High rates of agricultural gypsum affect the arbuscular mycorrhiza fungal community and coffee yield

Abstract

High rates of agricultural gypsum, above the recommended levels, have been used on a regular basis to deepen plant roots and to alleviate recurrent water stress in Cerrado areas. However, very little is known about the consequences of this practice to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether or not applying high rates of agricultural gypsum affects the mycorrhizal fungi community, glomalin content and coffee yield. The study rates were: 0; 3.5; 7.0; 14 and 56 t·ha-1 of agricultural gypsum applied in the planting row of the coffee plantation on top of the previous recommended gypsum application. Samples were collected for analysis at the depths of 0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm at the end of dry and rainy seasons of the year. In the coffee plantation, 16 AMF species were identified. Gigaspora sp. and Glomus macrocarpum were dominant in all situations. The rate of 7 t·ha-1 favored greater diversity of AMF species and the rate of 56 t·ha-1 reduced AMF diversity and mycorrhizal colonization in deeper layers. In the rainy season, there was a linear decrease of easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein (EE-GRSP) levels as the agricultural gypsum rate was increased. Coffee yield was reduced with the highest gypsum rate (56 t·ha-1), even though the coffee plantation had higher phosphorus contents in beans and leaves. This may have resulted from a number of reasons, including a negative effect on the AMF community.