Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance soil carbon sequestration in the coalfields, northwest China

Carbon storage is affected by photosynthesis (P-n) and soil respiration (R-s), which have been studied extensively in natural and agricultural systems. However, the effects of P-n and R-s on carbon storages in the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in coalfields remain unclear. A field experiment was established in 2014 in Shendong coal mining subsidence area. The treatments comprised two inoculation levels (inoculated with or without 100 g AMF inoculums per seedlings) and four plant species [wild cherry (Prunus discadenia Koebne L.), cerasus humilis (Prunus dictyneura Diels L.), shiny leaf Yellow horn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium Bunge L.) and apricot (Armeniaca sibirica L.)]. AMF increased P-n of four species ranging from 15.3% to 33.1% and carbon storage, averaged by 17.2% compared to controls. Soil organic carbon (OC), easily extractable glomalin-relation soil protein (EE-GRSP), and total glomalin-relation soil protein (T-GRSP) were significantly increased by AMF treatment. The effect of AMF on the sensitivity of R-s depended on soil temperature. The results highlighted the exponential models to explain the responses of R-s to soil temperature, and for the first time quantified AMF caused carbon sequestration and R-s. Thus, to our knowledge, AMF is beneficial to ecosystems through facilitating carbon conservation in coalfield soils.