Effects of Commercial Mycorrhizal Inocula vs. Native Prairie Fungi on Biomass and Leaf NumberOn Desmodium canadense and Salvia azurea

Abstract

The purpose of this eight-week study was to determine the affect of commercial mycorrizhae on the overall survivability and growth within Salvia azurea and Desmodium canadense. The work done in this experiment is important because there is very little scientific knowledge in the field of commerical mycorrizhea effectiveness within greenhouse plants. In the conduction of this experiment, there was 48 total plants used, as 24 plants for each species was observed  Of the 24 plants from a single species, 4 treatment groups with 6 plants were created. The different treatment groups were living prairie soil with commercial inoculum, living soil with no inoculum, sterilized prairie soil with commercial inoculum,  and sterilized prairie soil with no commercial inoculum. During lab, leaf number for both species were counted and recorded. On the last week of the experiment, flower number for Salvia azurea was counted as well as the root and shoot biomass for both both species. ANOVA’s were created in SPSS so that the information could be interpreted and analyzed. In conclusion of this experiment, we discovered that Salvia azurea had a better overall growth to the mycorrizhae, both natural and commercial, while the Desmodium canadense had an increase in leaf number in response to comercial mycorrizhea innoculum. From this experiement, we have learned that some species are reliant on mycorrizhae realtions for sustainablilty, while other plant species are not as dependent on the organism for increased success.