Variance between Commercial Vs. Natural Mycorrhizae

Abstract

Mycorrhizae is a fungus that grows onto the plant’s roots and creates a symbiont relationship between plant and fungus. It can help create a more efficient system for the plants such as their nutrient and water intake. In our study, we created a full factorial experiment testing the effects of the mycorrhizal interaction with two different species of plant, the Salvia azurea, and Desmodium canadense. Our hypothesis was that the plant specimens planted in both sterilized and unsterilized soil that have been inoculated with commercial mycorrhizae will have greater stem height, chlorophyll content, respiration rates, and overall biomass then the specimens that are inoculated with wild mycorrhizae or completely sterile with no mycorrhizae present. The study did not show any significant results or differences, thus did not support our hypothesis. This may result to not having a longer time frame in the experiment, or could be that it does not effect this species as much as others.