Mycorrhizal Dependency and Inoculant Effects on the Growth of Betula alnoides Seedlings

This paper reports the preliminary results of inoculant effect on the growth of Betula alnoides based on a nursery experiment.Seedlings were inoculated with either ECM fungus,VAM fungus or uninoculated as blank controls.The results showed that both fungi could form associations respectively with the roots of seedlings.The average heights of seedlings inoculated with ECM fungi were increased by 92.98%～106.82% compared to those of controls 180 days after inoculation,while the above-ground biomass and under ground biomass increased by 206.43%～554.69% and 202.83%～566.40% respectively.Regarding to the effect of VAM fungal inoculation,the average heights,top biomass and root biomass of inoculated seedlings were respectively increased by 50.48%～63.41%,78.65%～151.04% and 215.25%～311.86% 90 days after inoculation.Furthermore,150～180 day-old inoculated seedlings could be ready for outplanting in the field.This might save the duration time up to 5 more months in nursery according to normal management.These results demonstrated that the seedlings of B.alnoides were greatly dependent on mycorrhizal associations.