Influence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) on Plant Competition for growth of a legume and a grass plant species

AMF has considerable influence on plant nutrition uptake, competition between the legume (Trifolium incarnatum) and a grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) is influenced by the presence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) in this study. AMF has the ability to change the nutrient distribution between plants which may lead to changes in competitive relationships in plant communities. Pot experiments with a replacement design were conducted to test the influence of AMF isolates and a non AMF control on the competitive relationships of those plant pairs. Key consideration for the study was AMF influence on growth of legume and grass plants when grown individually or in combination of two plants and measured by the dry weight of biomass. Resultsrevealed that AMF stimulates the plant growth of legume and negative effect on grass plant; number of root nodules of legume plant has positive effect in monoculture & mixture.While in competition, legume plant increased biomass in absence of AMF but the relative yield of the grass plant decreased or remains equal and AMF affects the competitive relationship between legume and grass plant.