Seasonal variation in benthic invertebrate recolonization of small-scale disturbances in a subtropical Florida lake

Approximately 11.5% of the littoral zone of a hypereutrophic Florida lake is disturbed by the construction of spawning beds by the cichlid fish, Sarotherodon aurea, during a single spawning season. Simulations of these beds were created during three seasons of the year to test for variation in recolonization rates and patterns in the benthic macroinvertebrate community.The seasonal variation in densities of benthic invertebrate populations suggests a direct relationship between reproductive activity and recolonization rate. Recolonization rates of the numerically dominant species, Polypedilum halterale (Diptera: Chironomidae), were much more rapid in the spring and summer than in the winter. In contrast, Hyalella azteca and Glyptotendipes paripes attained peak population densities during the winter season when Polypedilum was present in low densities. These organisms invaded the disturbed area in unusually high abundances and later declined to background levels. The final result was a winter population with densities comparable to the control (undisturbed) area, but the species composition was different.Similarity between disturbed and control communities during the winter season only reached 67% a month after disturbance, while communities during the warmer months attained nearly 90% similarity in less than 15 days. This lack of similarity during the winter indicates that disturbance, at the appropriate time, may play a role in community organization.     

Influence of flood timing on the recovery of macrophytes in a former river channel

Over two vegetation cycles we compared the recovery of macrophytes from flood disturbances that occured at different seasons (July vs December) on patches of a former channel of the Rhône River, France. Some patches were disturbed twice; others were disturbed either in summer or in winter; others were never disturbed and were used as controls.The recovery rate of the vegetation was estimated from the duration of recolonization of the disturbed areas and of growth of the recolonizing species. The influence of the summer disturbance appeared to be strong because the disturbance occurred when the development of the vegetation was maximum. The influence of the winter disturbance was apparently much lower since most species had already declined at this time because of their phenology. The repetition of the two disturbances on the same patch had little influence on the vegetation community.In all cases, the recovery of the vegetation occurred rapidly, both for total vegetation cover and species richness. By the following spring, no significant differences appeared between disturbed and reference patches. The effect of the disturbances varied according to the phenology of the plants, and the macrophyte community studied was more sensitive in summer than in winter.     

Effects of multiple disturbance on macroinvertebrate communities in the Acheron River,Victoria

In the Acheron River, southern Victoria, patches of riffle substratum (ca 1 m²) were disturbed every 10 days by kicking and raking. After 20 days, i.e. three disturbances, a further set of patches was disturbed once. For the next 70 days macroinvertebrate dynamics were monitored in the two sets of disturbed patches and also in contiguous control patches. There were no differences in the temporal changes in total species richness, number of species per sample, densities of individuals, or species diversity (H’) between the two disturbance regimes. The composition of the fauna colonizing each disturbance regime was similar, and after 33 days the number of species per sample was similar in disturbed and control patches. The fauna appears to be well adapted to physical disturbance and current ideas linking species richness and disturbance cannot be readily applied to stream communities at the temporal and spatial scales of this experiment.     

Effects of disturbance frequency,intensity, and area on assemblages of stream macroinvertebrates

Disturbance frequency, intensity, and areal extent may influence the effects of disturbance on biological communities. Furthermore, these three factors may have interacting effects on biological diversity. We manipulated the frequency, intensity, and area of disturbance in a full-factorial design on artificial substrates and measured responses of benthic macroinvertebrates in a northern Vermont stream. Macroinvertebrate abundance was lower in all disturbance treatments than in the undisturbed control. As in most other studies in streams, species density (number of species/sample) was lower in disturbed treatments than in undisturbed controls. However, species density is very sensitive to total abundance of a sample, which is usually reduced by disturbance. We used a rarefaction method to compare species richness based on an equivalent number of individuals. In rarefied samples, species richness was higher in all eight disturbed treatments than in the undisturbed control, with significant increases in species richness for larger areas and greater intensities of disturbance. Increases in species richness in response to disturbance were consistent within patches, among patches with similar disturbance histories, and among patches with differing disturbance histories. These results provide some support for Huston’s dynamic-equilibrium model but do not support the intermediate-disturbance hypothesis. Our analyses demonstrate that species richness and species density can generate opposite patterns of community response to disturbance. The interplay of abundance, species richness, and species density has been neglected in previous tests of disturbance models. Received: 20 July 1999 / Accepted: 26 January 2000     

The sizes, maturity stages and biomass of mayfly assemblages colonizing disturbed stream bed patches in central Kenya

The sizes, maturity stages and biomass of mayfly species colonizing disturbed patches on the stream bed surface of the Naro Moru River, Kenya, were determined from June 1993 to January 1994. All maturity stages I–VI⁺ were present in the pre-disturbance mayfly assemblages. Colonization of the disturbed patches by mayflies of different maturity stages was continuous, but slow or fast depending on the season and species. The overall post-disturbance maturity structure of the mayflies colonizing the disturbed patches did not demonstrate any distinct pattern. The majority of Caenis nymphs colonizing the patches in wet season II (November–January) were in emerging maturity stage VI⁺, whilst the majority of the individuals of Afronurus and Choroterpes ( Euthraulus ) populations matured from stage I in the wet seasons to stage VI⁺ in the dry season. Furthermore, the majority of the individuals of Baetis ( Nigrobaetis ) sp.1 were maturing to stages IV–VI during the wet seasons. Small-sized mayfly individuals (body length <3.0 mm) of all mayflies colonized the disturbed patches in the majority of numbers. However, although having the highest densities, they contributed a very low biomass compared with the fewer large-sized nymphs. There was no size gradation in the colonization of the disturbed patches, since all sizes were sampled at all times but in differing proportions. Colonization of the patches by mayflies was not size- or maturity stage-specific. Size distribution patterns could be useful in assessing which mayfly size-spectra are more or less susceptible to disturbance in streams.     

人为干扰对武汉市城市绿地鸟类群落结构的影响

城市绿地生态系统是城市景观的重要组成部分,具有重要的生态与文化价值。鸟类是城市绿地生态系统的指示类群,研究人类活动对鸟类资源的影响能够为城市生态景观的建设与维护提供重要理论依据。本研究于2021年10月至2022年5月,采用样线法对武汉市不同干扰强度的城市绿地内林鸟群落进行调查。共记录到鸟类11目34科100种,其中国家二级重点保护鸟类9种,在物种组成上以雀形目为主(76种,占调查到总鸟种数的76%),在居留型上以留鸟为主(42种,42%),在区系上主要属于东洋界(45种,45%)。繁殖季鸟类物种数高于非繁殖季,主要是由于夏候鸟和旅鸟的增加导致。在不同干扰强度中,重度干扰斑块的平均鸟类个体数最多,轻度干扰斑块的鸟类物种丰富度、多样性指数和均匀度指数最高,而中度干扰斑块的鸟类个体数、物种丰富度、多样性指数和均匀度指数均为最低,且繁殖季和非繁殖季鸟类群落结构在不同人为干扰强度中的格局未发生变化。综上所述,武汉市城市绿地的鸟类多样性较为丰富,随着干扰强度增加,鸟类多样性出现非线性差异,揭示了人为干扰与自然干扰对生态影响的差异;在面积狭小、破碎化严重的斑块中,人为干扰可能有利于城市绿地鸟类多样性的维持。     

Effect of edaphic factors and seasonal variation on spore density and root colonization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in sugarcane fields

Sugarcane fields in 14 different study sites were analyzed for the presence of different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) spores. A total of 23 AMF species representing four genera were identified, among which Glomus fasciculatum and G. mosseae were the dominant species. The mean spore density in the root-zone soils of sugarcane plants varied from 119 to 583 per 100 g of soil, and the mean percentage root colonization varied from 60 to 89 %. A study of the effect of edaphic factors on AM spore density and percentage root colonization revealed a positive correlation between pH and AMF spore density and root colonization and a negative correlation between electrical conductivity, nitrogen, and phosphorus. A positive correlation was observed between AMF spore density and root colonization. Season was also found to play a vital role in determining AMF spore density and percentage root colonization, with high spore density and root colonization observed during the summer season and lower spore densities and root colonization during the winter season.     

Experimental disturbance and the maintenance of species diversity in a stream community

Summary In order to test the role of disturbance and the effects of disturbance frequency on stream communities, an experiment was conducted in New Hope Creek, North Carolina, USA. Patches of cobbles were tumbled 0, 1 or 2 times in a 6 week span. These tumbling disturbances lasted only 30 seconds. The recovery of the macroinvertebrates was monitored.Most taxa showed major reductions in population density immediately following the disturbance. The percent reduction of a given taxon in disturbed vs. control patches ranged from 21.4–95%. Recovery to near normal population levels was achieved in about four weeks. A second disturbance caused similar population reductions as the first one, and delayed the recovery.The macroinvertebrate community in cobbles was demonstrated to be resilient in that populations quickly regained their predisturbance densities. Rare taxa did not selectively colonize disturbed patches. The implications of these findings for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis and the structure of stream communities is discussed. Disturbance is a major determinant of lotic community structure and species diversity.     

钦州湾大型底栖动物生态学研究

通过2008年~2009年在钦州湾及附近海域进行的4个航次的大型底栖动物调查,共获大型底栖动物8门62科94种,软体类最多,其次为多毛类,种类季节变化较大。以优势度指数Y>0.02为判别标准,调查区春季优势种为方格皱纹蛤（Periglypta lacerata (Hanley)）、刺足掘沙蟹（Scalopidia spinosipes Stimpsom）和独齿围沙蚕（Perinereis cultrifera Grube）,夏季优势种为方格皱纹蛤、刺足掘沙蟹和持真节虫,秋季优势种为曲波皱纹蛤和网纹藤壶,冬季优势种为肋鲳螺和方格皱纹蛤。春、夏季优势种变化不大,秋、冬季优势种变化较大,除方格皱纹蛤外均为季节特有种。海区底栖生物平均总密度和平均总生物量分别为439ind./m2和115.14g/m2。与20世纪80年代钦州湾茅尾海调查结果相比,平均栖息密度有所升高,但是平均生物量却有较大程度的降低。底栖动物群落的丰富度指数（D）、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数（H′）和均匀度指数（J′）平均值分别为4.01、1.80和0.73,水平不高。用SPSS软件将各站大型底栖动物的平均密度、平均生物量、多样性指数等生态特征值与水深等理化因子进行了Pearson相关分析,结果表明春季各特征指数与环境因子相关性不显著;夏季丰度、多样性指数和均匀度指数均与水深呈显著负相关,种类数、丰富度和多样性指数与沉积物pH呈显著负相关;秋季密度与硫化物呈显著正相关;冬季生物量与硫化物和有机质均呈显著正相关。     

Effects of connectivity and recurrent local disturbances on community structure and population density in experimental metacommunities

Metacommunity theory poses that the occurrence and abundance of species is a product of local factors, including disturbance, and regional factors, like dispersal among patches. While metacommunity ideas have been broadly tested there is relatively little work on metacommunities subject to disturbance. We focused on how localized disturbance and dispersal interact to determine species composition in metacommunities. Experiments conducted in simple two-patch habitats containing eight protozoa and rotifer species tested how dispersal altered community composition in both communities that were disturbed and communities that connected to refuge communities not subject to disturbance. While disturbance lowered population densities, in disturbed patches connected to undisturbed patches this was ameliorated by immigration. Furthermore, species with high dispersal abilities or growth rates showed the fastest post-disturbance recovery in presence of immigration. Connectivity helped to counteract the negative effect of disturbances on local populations, allowing mass-effect-driven dispersal of individuals from undisturbed to disturbed patches. In undisturbed patches, however, local population sizes were not significantly reduced by emigration. The absence of a cost of dispersal for undisturbed source populations is consistent with a lack of complex demography in our system, such as age- or sex-specific emigration. Our approach provides an improved way to separate components of population growth from organisms' movement in post-disturbance recovery of (meta)communities. Further studies are required in a variety of ecosystems to investigate the transient dynamics resulting from disturbance and dispersal.     

The role of the seed bank,seed rain and the timing of disturbance in gap regeneration

Abstract. Question: Does the degree and timing of disturbance contribute significantly to the pattern and process of regeneration in plant communities as a consequence of the availability and number of species of propagules present? Location: Acid grassland at 230 m a.s.l., eastern Scotland, UK. Methods : Plots were surface disturbed or had their soil profile inverted at monthly intervals at 12 dates during a year. Seed bank and seed rain were assessed at each treatment time. The effect of disturbance intensity and timing on the regenerating vegetation was assessed. Results: Removing the seed bank significantly slowed regeneration, as it contributed 43 % of developing cover after one year where it was present. At an individual seed level, seed in the seed rain had a much higher likelihood of contributing to the regenerating vegetation than a seed in the seed bank. Some species showed a reliance on the seed bank for regeneration, and hence there was a significant difference in the vegetation that developed between plots with the seed bank intact and those where it was removed. Winter disturbed plots (little seed rain) had slower rates of re‐vegetation than summer disturbed plots. Timing had little effect on species composition, though a significantly higher cover of perennial forb species developed on the winter disturbed plots. Conclusion: Removing the contribution of the seed bank had a greater effect on the composition of regenerating vegetation than the effect of seasonal variation on the seed rain.     

Small-scale patch dynamics after disturbance in litter ant communities

The dynamics of re-colonisation of disturbed patches may aid in the understanding of spatial variation of species richness. The present study experimentally tested the hypothesis that the variation of litter ant local species richness and composition is caused by the dynamics of re-colonisation after disturbances. We were particularly interested in whether the re-colonisation was by pre-existent species or species new to the patches, and whether the succession of species evidences the existence of dominance-controlled or founder-controlled communities. Litter patches of a forest remnant in Southeast Brazil were disturbed by removing most animals through litter drying, and litter samples were returned to the same sites from where they were removed. Ant species richness and composition were compared before and 2 months after the disturbance. Dissimilarity among disturbed and non-disturbed samples was compared to infer the succession model occurring after disturbance. Ant species richness did not recover after 2 months, and species composition of the disturbed samples showed more new colonisers than pre-existent species. Dissimilarity among samples in the disturbed plots was smaller than in the control plots, indicating a directional, or dominance-controlled, succession. The changes in species composition observed were caused by a decrease of some species, particularly predators, and an increase of species that are possibly opportunistic. Patches of litter are naturally disturbed in time and space, and evidence from the present paper indicates that succession occurring in these patches would lead to different species richness and compositions. Thus the dynamics of re-colonisation contributes to explaining the diversity of litter-dwelling ant communities at larger spatial and temporal scales. In each patch the succession seems to be directional, with opportunist species re-colonising preferentially empty plots. Therefore, these communities may attain a high diversity due to a small-scale patch dynamics model.     

Investigations into the soil mycoecology of Chambal ravines of India

Summary The present investigation deals with the seasonal succession of fungal communities in wheat fields. The studies were performed during the year 1975–76 and involved four study seasons,viz. winter (1975), summer (1975), rainy (1975) and winter (1976). The observations during two winter seasons were done to find out whether or not fungal communities exhibit definite cyclic pattern. Of the 69 isolated species, 25 showed wider ecological amplitude whereas some species were specific of a particular season. Each season was marked by different fungal mycoflora. The population ofAspergillus terreus, a dominant member of the community, along with many other autochthonous species, exhibited a definite periodicity during various seasons. Seasonal variations in the fungal communities, variations in the extent of similarity among the fungal communities during various seasons and the impact of climatic conditions on the components of fungal communities are discussed.     

Understory spider diversity in two remnants of tropical montane cloud forest in Chiapas, Mexico

We evaluated the spider diversity of a tropical montane cloud forest understory in two nearby sites with different degree of human disturbance at the Biosphere Reserve Volcán Tacaná, Chiapas, Mexico. The study was conducted over a 24 days period distributed in 6 months in 2009, covering dry and rainy seasons. A total of 8,370 spiders (1,208 adults and 7,162 juveniles) were collected. Determined specimens (7,747) represented 112 species and morphospecies, 71 genera and 22 families. The results showed that human disturbance has an influence on spider communities: species richness was significantly higher in the preserved site as regards to the disturbed site. Despite their proximity, the composition of spider communities showed only a moderate similarity between the two sites. No differences in abundance were found among sites when considering the whole sample, but sites differed clearly when seasons were analyzed separately. The rainy season had a negative effect on the abundance of spiders in the preserved site. Although the spider community structure was very similar between sites, there was a trend towards a greater species evenness in the preserved site for the whole sampling period and for the dry season.     

Root colonization and spore abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in distinct successional stages from an Atlantic rainforest biome in southern Brazil

The influence of plant functional groups and moderate seasonality on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal status (root colonization and spore density) was investigated during 13 consecutive months in a chronosequence of succession in southern Brazil, consisting of grassland field, scrub vegetation, secondary forest and mature forest, in a region of transition from tropical to subtropical zones. AM root colonization and spore density decreased with advancing succession and were highest in early successional sites with grassland and scrub vegetation, intermediary in the secondary forest and lowest in the mature forest. They were little influenced by soil properties, but were sufficiently influenced by the fine root nutrient status and fine root traits among different functional plant groups. AM root colonization and spore density were higher during the favourable plant growth season (spring and summer) than during the less favourable plant growth season (autumn and winter). Spore density displayed significant seasonal variation at all sites, whilst root colonization displayed significant seasonal variation in grassland, scrub and secondary forest, but not in mature forest. The data suggest that (1) different plant functional groups display different relationships with AM fungi, influencing their abundance differentially; (2) plant species from early successional phases are more susceptible to AM root colonization and maintain higher AM sporulation than late successional species; (3) fine root traits and nutrient status influence these AM fungal attributes; and (4) higher AM spore production and root colonization is associated with the season of higher light incidence and temperature, abundant water in soil and higher plant metabolic activity.     

Species identity, diversity and microbial carbon flow in reassembling macrobenthic communities

Intense disturbance may locally destroy patches of habitat and shape the landscape into a mosaic of reassembling communities. The development of ecosystem properties during such community reassembly is poorly understood. In intertidal bare sediments, trophic relations between microphytobenthos or heterotrophic bacteria and macrofauna invertebrates may guarantee fundamental ecosystem properties such as carbon flow through the food web. We studied the dynamic relation between reassembling macrofauna communities and such microbial carbon flow during recovery after severe disturbance. We deliberately induced prolonged hypoxia in winter and early summer and allowed recolonisation for periods of two and five months. Carbon flow was quantified from basal resources (microphytobenthos and bacteria) to intermediate consumers using ¹³C as a tracer. Within the period of study (5 months), microbial carbon flow fully recovered, although macrofauna diversity was still very low compared to the natural communities (ranging from 6 to 17 species). More than 90% of microbial carbon flow to macrofauna was due to the consumers that recolonised within two months. Two of these species were dominant contributors to microphytobenthos carbon transfer to fauna. Furthermore, at an early stage of reassembly, this ecosystem property was remarkably similar when disturbance took place at different times of the year (winter or early summer), although there were differences in assemblage composition and functional diversity. We conclude that species assemblages and ecosystem function developed relatively independently in this benthic system. We discuss which ecological factors may have caused such non-parallel development of macrofaunal communities and carbon flow.     

Scales and frequencies of disturbances: rock size, bed packing and variation among upland streams

1. Disturbance is an important source of variability in species composition and diversity, but application of disturbance models is contingent upon a very good understanding of the spatial scales and frequencies of disturbance. Such information is particularly lacking from streams. In this study, we measured the disturbance levels of rocks (defined here as the proportion of the original sample disturbed after 6 months) of differing sizes and positions within the stream bed and looked at the variation between and within three upland streams. 2. Rocks were blazed with distinctive marks in situ and mapped using simple trigonometry and permanently marked points on the banks. Forty rocks were selected and marked completely at random, and a further sixty marked from random selections within three size classes (small, medium and large) crossed with two bed-packing classes (on top of the bed or packed into the bed). This sampling design was used at each of two sites (an upper, order 3 location and a lower, order 4 location separated by ≈ 8–16 km) on each of three rivers and in two periods during the year (a dry summer period and a wetter winter period) for a sample size of 1200 rocks in all. During summer, on-top rocks were removed from below the study sites and placed at random locations through the riffle after marking, to test whether human-placed rocks can provide estimates of natural disturbance levels. 3. Rocks were relocated and classified as disturbed (moved or buried) or not disturbed (found at the same location) after ≈ 6 months. Log-linear modelling revealed that human-placed rocks moved half as often as on-top rocks marked in situ. Overall, small rocks disappeared more frequently than medium ones, which disappeared more often than large ones, and rocks lying loosely on top of the bed were disturbed more often than those packed into the bed. There was no interaction between rock size and bed packing in their effects on disturbance and each of these factors affected disturbance levels in the same way at all six sites and in both seasons. During the summer, there were no differences between upper and lower sites, but disturbance was still relatively frequent and patchy in occurrence, with five of six sites showing significant spatial clumping of disturbed rocks. Disturbance levels were higher in the wetter, winter season than during the drier, summer season, but this was caused by a doubling of disturbance rates at all three lower sites, which also showed reduced (but, in two cases, still significant) levels of spatial aggregation. Disturbance levels at upper sites in winter were similar to summer rates, and the level of aggregation of disturbed rocks differed between sites. 4. The results obtained by this study suggest that disturbance levels should not be assessed using methods where rocks are placed in riffles. Disturbance models applied to rocky upland streams may need to heed differences seen at small scales (i.e. between individual rocks), as differences seen at these scales were a crucial source of variability and potentially as significant as variation between sites. However, small-scale differences in disturbance were expressed similarly in different locations. Potentially, the same disturbance model could be applied to all sites, with each of them sitting in different locations along common disturbance continua.     

Responses of native and non-native Mojave Desert winter annuals to soil disturbance and water additions

Habitat modification (i.e., disturbance) and resource availability have been identified as possible mechanisms that may influence the invasibility of plant communities. In the Mojave Desert, habitat disturbance has increased dramatically over the last 50 years due to increased human activities. Additionally, water availability is considered to be a main limiting resource for plant production. To elucidate the effects of soil disturbance and water availability on plant invasions, we created experimental patches where we varied the levels of soil disturbance and water availability in a fully crossed factorial experiment at five replicated field sites, and documented responses of native and non-native winter annuals. The treatments did not significantly affect the density (seedlings m⁻²) of the non-native forb, Brassica tournefortii. However, the relationship between silique production and plant height differed among treatments, with greater silique production in disturbed plots. In contrast to Brassica, density of the non-native Schismus spp. increased in soil disturbed and watered plots, and was greatest in disturbed plots during 2009 (the second year of the study). Species composition of the native annual community was not affected by treatments in 2008 but was influenced by treatments in 2009. The native forb Eriophyllum sp. was most dense on water-addition plots, while density of Chaenactis freemontii was highest in disturbed plots. Results illustrate that habitat invasibility in arid systems can be influenced by dynamics in disturbance regimes and water availability, and suggest that invasiveness can differ between non-native annual species and among native annuals in habitats undergoing changing disturbance and precipitation regimes. Understanding the mechanistic relationships between water availability and non-native plant responses will be important for understanding the effects of shifting precipitation and vegetation patterns under predicted climate change in arid ecosystems.     

Grazing effects in macroalgal communities depend on timing of patch colonization

Rocky macroalgal assemblages are typically composed of patches differing in age and species composition and grazing is generally a very important modifier of such assemblages. We hypothesized that patch colonization time determines its algal community and that grazing effects depend on the colonization time and vary with depth. We created patches by placing empty substrates at two sublittoral depths over five consecutive months, manipulated grazer entry and determined the algal species composition in each patch in the next growing season. Distinct algal colonization periods resulted in different algal assemblages. Although algal communities in our study area consist mainly of opportunistic species, thus being highly dynamic, the resulting macroalgal assemblages differed in species richness, diversity, composition, and total biomass even a year after first colonization. Substrates close to the water-surface supported a higher species richness and diversity than those in the deeper littoral. The community characteristics, total density, total biomass and species richness were only slightly, if at all affected by grazing. However, individual algal species or taxa showed varying and even contrasting responses to grazing, often differently between depths and depending on colonization time. In the deeper littoral, but not close to the water surface, grazing increased the density of filamentous brown algae while reducing the green alga Cladophora glomerata. In these taxa, grazing effects were strongest in patches colonized during the early growing season. Grazing at the colonization stage had lasting consequences for the density of several individual species.     

Relationships among soil properties, plant nutrition and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-plant symbioses in a temperate grassland along hydrologic, saline and sodic gradients

Temporal variations in the relationships among plant nutrient concentrations, soil properties and arbuscular-mycorrhizal (AM) fungal dynamics were studied along a topographic and saline gradient in a temperate grassland soil. Soil and plant (Lotus tenuis, Paspalum vaginatum, Stenotaphrum secundatum) samples were collected on four seasonally based occasions. The morphology of AM root colonization had a similar pattern in the plants studied. Maximum arbuscular colonization occurred at the beginning of the growing season in late winter and was minimal in late summer, but maximal vesicular colonization occurred in summer and was minimal in winter, suggesting a preferential production of these morphological phases by the fungus with respect to season. The greatest arbuscular colonization was associated with the highest N and P concentrations in plant tissue, suggesting a correspondence with increases in the rate of nutrient transfer between the symbiotic partners. Water content, salinity and sodicity in soil were positively associated with AM root colonization and arbuscule colonization in L. tenuis, but negatively so in the grasses. There were distinct seasonally related effects with respect to both spore density and AM colonization, which were independent of particular combinations of plant species and soil sites.