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• Friendly Fungi
• 10 Questions on Vietnamese Fishing Communities
• Dr. Sharon Walker Wins Highest Honor from NMEA
• NOAA Funding to Support Bottlenose Dolphin Research
• Living Shorelines Workshop Scheduled for November
• Research Prioritization Workshops to be Held Throughout the Gulf of Mexico Region
• Featured Publication
• From the Director

Sea Briefs is a report on the results of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

Editor: Valerie Winn

This newsletter is available in PDF format from:
masgc.org/seabriefs

MASGC supports applied, interdisciplinary marine science research, education and outreach efforts to foster the sustainable development and management of the Mississippi and Alabama coasts and nearshore ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico

Mississippi-Alabama
Sea Grant Consortium
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
Phone: 228-818-8840
E-mail: seabriefs@masgc.org
MASGP 07-011-03

Friendly Fungi
Project targets role of root-associated fungi in salt marshes

In an ongoing effort to make restoration efforts more successful as well as provide an inexpensive way to improve growth of shoreline grasses, MASGC-funded researchers are conducting a first study of its kind in Mississippi and Alabama on the effects of integrating fungi into needlerush (Juncus roemerianus) and smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora).

“We are investigating the role of mycorrhizae fungi on these plants,” said Dr. Jinx Campbell, principal investigator and assistant professor of the Department of Coastal Sciences of The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. “Salt marshes are known to provide important vegetated habitats for many species of fish and invertebrates, some of which are of commercial and/or recreational importance, as well as for many types of wading birds and endangered species, such as manatees and sea turtles. They also stabilize sediments, help prevent erosion, buffer shorelines against hurricane damage and improve water quality. However, salt marshes are declining worldwide, primarily due to human disturbance.”

To help overcome the loss of these valuable habitats, restoration projects are on the increase. In the northern Gulf of Mexico, efforts have focused on planting of salt marsh species, primarily smooth cordgrass and needlerush, often on reclaimed or created dredge spoil islands.

“The costs of these restoration programs are often very high and, unfortunately, there are as many failures as there are successes,” said Campbell. “Failure of the plants to establish may stem from limitations on nutrient acquisition due to recent water-quality deterioration. Therefore strategies need to be developed to increase the success rate of restoration projects.”

Providing these species with mycorrhizae may yield valuable results. The interaction between plants and fungi is well understood and documented in terrestrial plants. But knowledge of mycorrhizae in salt marshes is scarce.

"Other studies have shown that after transfer of these plants to a low-nutrient beach environment, mycorrhizal colonization spread rapidly and enhanced plant growth significantly compared to non-inoculated control plants, said Campbell.

Working with Dr. Patrick Biber, also an assistant professor at GCRL, and graduate students Allison Kennedy and Melissa Pratt-Zossoungbo, Campbell said because of the general lack of information on the role of mycorrhizal associations in salt marsh plants, they will be generating new approaches and a better understanding of the importance of this mechanism for plant survival.

The benefits for plants with mycorrhizal fungi can be characterized either agronomically by increased growth and yield, or ecologically by improved fitness. “It all relates to salt marsh restoration and shorelines,” said Campbell adding that the fungi, which acts as an extension of plant roots, is so much smaller and can go where roots cannot reach.

Employing a technique that detects all fungi structures, the researchers took core samples from both natural and created salt marshes. No mycorrhizal fungi were detected in natural salt marshes, but they were found in the roots of salt marsh plants at created habitats.

Campbell and her team intend to grow salt marsh plants from native seed inside a greenhouse. The seedlings will be provided with commercial mycorrhizal fungi and monitored to determine the effect of mycorrhizae on smooth cordgrass and needlerush. These nursery plants will then later be transplanted to salt marsh restoration sites where they will continue to be monitored.

“Our intention is to see if mycorrhizae will help us to grow stronger plants,” said Biber. The main interest will be to establish a difference in the growth of seedling without mycorrhizae and those inoculated with the fungi.”

“The implications of this research translate into potentially much increased restoration success because of better plant survival and growth rates, and if this works, as translated into a cost per plant, 60 gallons of commercial mycorrhizae will cover two acres at a price of $50,” said Campbell. “It would be a very cost-effective way to improve salt marsh restoration.”