Exploring economic assessment of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis
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Exploring economic assessment of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis M. M. Gupta 1 & L. K. Abbott 2 Received: 4 August 2020 / Accepted: 30 October 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis has long been projected as one of the sustainable saviors for achieving food security for mankind. However, there exist conflicting views regarding recommending AM fungi as inocula to farmers. Fungal, host, soil and climatic factors affect AM efficacy in the field. The process of identifying, calculating and comparing the costs and benefits of AM symbioses in economic terms is of international interest from both farmer and industry perspectives. It has not yet been possible to economically quantify the benefits of AM fungi in agroecosystems. Some potential benefits such as increased yield, lower fertilizer consumption and better disease tolerance can be measured quantitatively by cost-benefit analyses, but others such as reductions in soil erosion and nutrient leaching, soil carbon sequestration, phytoremediation, renaturation and landscaping are mainly qualitative and cannot be assessed by conventional cost-benefit methodologies. We identify and explore approaches to assessing economic benefits of inoculation with AM fungi and the risks and limitations involved. To ensure that all potential benefits of AM symbioses are given due cognizance, we propose any economic evaluation should also use contingent methods as applied to economic assessment of biodiversity and afforestation. Development of a framework involving systematic measurements of factors involved in establishment and function of AM symbioses should address risks in mismeasurement and resolve issues related to incomplete knowledge and potential conflicts. Keywords Arbuscular . Mycorrhiza . Contingent assessment . Cost-benefit
1 Introduction The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis has been the norm for plants ever since initial colonization of the terrestrial environment (Smith and Read 2008). They represent mutualistic associations between plant roots and fungi of the phylum Mucoromycota, subphylum Glomeromycotina (Spatafora et al. 2016) and subphylum Mucoromycotina (fine endophytes) (Orchard et al. 2017). These fungi have potential to provide water and nutrition to the partner plants and receive carbohydrates and lipids in return (Smith and Read 2008;
* M. M. Gupta [email protected] L. K. Abbott [email protected] 1
University of Delhi, Sri Aurobindo College, New Delhi, India
2
UWA School of Agriculture and Environment and UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
Rillig et al. 2020). The AM fungal symbiosis is generally agreed to have potential positive roles in plant growth and yield (Rillig et al. 2019; Pellegrino et al. 2020) and could act as indicators of soil health (Abbott and Lumley 2014; Gupta 2020). Conclusion about the commercial worth of AM fungi for use in horticulture, agriculture, forestry and landscaping has resulted from decades of research
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