Underground Explorers

In Indonesian Wallace, one of the most significant ecoregions in Southeast Asia and the world, the largest land area is  Central Sulawesi. It has unique species and species that exist in Asian and Australasian origin. On the other hand, Central Sulawesi is also designated as a national strategic area, especially for nickel and gold mining, which contradicts the conservation of the below and above grounds. Long studies have been reported that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) as a plant roots associate that contributes to the land and vegetation conservations. However, more basic biological information needs to be known related to the functional diversity of AMF. This study will investigate the AMF diversity in rainforests and its transformation ecosystems: monoculture plantation and mixed agricultural ecosystems. Also, the study will assess the AMF diversity in agricultural ecosystems close to the nickel mining area and replanted ex-mining area. The hypothesis proposes that an intensified production of cash crops and mining causes a decrease in AMF diversity. Soil samples collected from the study sites will be the sources of the DNA. The AMF genomic DNA will be extracted from the soil and then used as a DNA template for PCR and DNA sequencing. The DNA also will be extracted from the single spore of AMF. For this part, the morphological spore characteristics will surely be named after the DNA sequencing from the AMF spore. The expedition will be in a team consisting of the main researcher, collaborators, students, local people, and the ranger of the forest authority. This study, will contribute to the national and global databased related to AMF diversity along the transformation of rainforest to managed ecosystems.