The unspecificity of the relationships between the invasive Pennisetum setaceum and mycorrhizal fungi may provide advantages during its establishment at semiarid Mediterranean sites.

摘要: Abstract The involvement of mutualistic plant-fungal interactions in invasion processes, especially some climatic regions including semiarid areas, has not been sufficiently investigated. We compared the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities hosted by invasive plant Pennisetum setaceum with those from co-occurring native Hyparrhenia hirta at five Mediterranean locations different edaphic characteristics. Illumina technology was used to investigate AMF roots. subsequent multivariate analysis showed that and non-native host plants shared a similar community, whereas invaded differed harbored indicator species revealed absence virtual taxa for fungal roots or plants. In contrast, numbers were recorded sampling locations. According canonical correspondence analysis, variability between sites related changes soil total carbon, electrical conductivity, respiration, protease urease activities. These findings reveal unspecificity P. relation its association community encountered locations, which could have facilitated successful establishment spread.