Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities vary between poplar species in the same habitat

The species diversity of AMF is influenced by the cultivar of the host plant. For this study, six species of poplar (Populus spp.) were selected from the poplar germplasm conservation experimental forest in Tongzhou, Beijing, China. The aim of the study was to compare the chemical characteristics of the poplar stand soils, including total carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and available phosphorus. The composition of the AMF community was also analyzed using high-throughput sequencing techniques. Significant differences in soil nutrient content (total phosphorus, available phosphorus, carbon/nitrogen, carbon/phosphorus) were found between different species of Populus spp. (p < 0.05), although the total carbon, total nitrogen, and nitrogen/phosphorus of the soil did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). Notably, the Simpson index and Pielou index of the AMF community exhibited the most significant differences among the various poplar cultivars, with the highest mean values for P. x euramericana cl. 'J6' (0.98 and 0.77, respectively). Furthermore, significant correlations were observed between the relative abundance of AMF communities at each taxonomic level and soil nutrient content. At the generic level, the relative abundance of Glomus has the highest correlation with C/N and C/P (r = -0.79). Overall, the findings of this study highlight the impact of poplar species on the composition and structure of the soil AMF community, which is closely related to soil nutrient content. These results contribute to our understanding of the plant-AMF-soil interaction mechanisms and provide a solid basis for future research in this field.