Background:

Pinus patula is the most important timber species in the subtropical region of Mexico, particularly in the state of Oaxaca. It is found in native forests and in plantations reforested from clear cut logging (matarrasa). The interaction of Pinus and Quercus roots with ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcM) plays important functions for the nutrition and survival of these plants, with consequences for forest dynamics.

Objective:

We characterized the most frequent EcM fungi in seedling roots of P. patula and Q. crassifolia (which grows by natural regeneration in the stands) from clear cut plantations in the Sierra Juarez of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Methods:

Morphotypes of each EcM root tip were described morphologically and identified using the ITS nuclear ribosomal DNA region by genetic similarity in the UNITE database.

Results and conclusions:

We found a total of 14 “Species Hypothesis” for which the morphological description of the root tip is presented. The /tomentella-thelephora and /laccaria lineages were the most diverse. Lactarius sp., Cenococcum geophilum and Tomentella radiosa were the most frequent species associated to both hosts. This work highlights the diversity of EcM fungi in clear cut plantations. Such knowledge is useful for further research on sustainable forest management.