Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are soil fungi that colonize the roots of 80-90% of vascular plant families, trading soil nutrients for plant sugars.¹

Inputs

• Root contact with a host plant; spores have only a short window (days to weeks) to colonize a root before they die.¹
• Avoid heavy tillage, synthetic fertilizer, and fungicide use, all of which suppress colonization; reduced/conservation tillage and seed drills favor it.¹

Outputs

• Improved plant uptake of phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfur, potassium, copper, and iron, in exchange for about 20% of the host plant’s sugars.¹

Type

• Mycorrhizal fungi

Functions

• Nutrient transport¹
• Soil building¹
• Drought-tolerance — AMF improve water-use efficiency and can increase leaf area under drought stress.¹

Footnotes

1. Andres, H., Liao, H.-L., Zhang, K. (2025). Biology, Ecology, and Benefits of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Agricultural Ecosystems. PP383, UF/IFAS Extension ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷