ABSTRACT
Mycorrhizae are mutualistic symbioses between plants and fungi. As such, mycorrhizal fungi play an important role in structuring plant communities by improving the performance of individual plants. Improved growth and survival of host plants is mostly attributed to the ability of fungal partners to improve plant nutrition and rooting structure (Allen and Allen 1986; Allen et al. 1989; Lewis 1973) and enhance resistance to environmental stresses and soil pathogens (Sylvia and Williams 1992). However, a variety of mycorrhizal types differentially affects their host plants. If the appropriate group of fungi is unavailable to form the type of mycorrhizal association to which a plant belongs, that group of plants may not remain or recover from a disturbance (Allen et al. 1993). Disturbance alters fungal communities in different ways and fungal recovery typically occurs after initial plant establishment. As a consequence, the formation of functional mycorrhizae may require decades or may never occur.
