Performance of Choctawhatchee Sand Pine Seedlings Inoculated with Ectomycorrhizal Fungi and Outplanted in the Sandhills of North Florida

摘要

Studies were conducted on the effect of the ectomycorrhizal symbiont Pisolifhus tincrorius (Pt) on nursery production and field performance of both container-grown and bare-root Choctawhatchee sand pine (CSP). In two separate experiments, seedlings inoculated with Pt were planted on prepared sites on the sandhills of north Florida. Inoculation with Pt improved the quality of bare-root CSP in the nursery. Field survival and early growth were not affected by mycorrhizal treatment. The reasons for the failure of Pt inoculation to improve outplanted seedling performance during these experiments are discussed.