Underground Explorers

The study will be conducted in the Acarai State Park, situated with the Atlantic Rain Forest floristic domain (Serra do Mar coastal forest ecoregion) in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil. The ecosystem type is Restinga, a coastal ecosystem consisting of sandy, nutrient-poor soil vegetation ranging from herbaceous near the ocean to shrubs and trees inland. Three vegetation types will be analyzed within the Park: embryonic dunes, semi-fixed dunes, and arboreal restinga. Soil samples will be collected following SPUN's protocol and AMF species will be identified by spore morphology and environmenal DNA targeting the SSU, ITS, and LSU rDNA regions. Trap cultures will be established to induce AMF sporulation and use spores to establish single cultures of AMF that will be part of the germoplasm of the International Culture Collection of Glomeromycota (CICG).