Disturbing Impact of Outdoor Cattle Husbandry on Community of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Upland Pasture Soil

The aim of the pilot study was to describe the impact of outdoor cattle husbandry on the communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the overwintering upland pasture (South Bohemia, Czech Republic). We selected three sites with severe, moderate, and light (control) impact intensity. Roots of plant species with a plant cover area 5% were collected at each site. The ratio of nonmycorrhizal plants species decreased with the decreasing impact of cattle. The highest mycorrhizal colonization was found at the control site on a level of the screened plant community (78.57% of root length) as well as on a species level (97.78% of root length of Plantago major L.). At the severely impacted site, 31.67% and 35.56% of root colonization was found on community and species level (Plantago major L.), respectively. Similar results were found also in the length of extraradical mycelium and arbuscules numbers.