A Meta-analysis of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi effects on Trifolium plants growth

Meta analysis was performed to quantify the effect of AM fungi inoculation on plant biomass and nutrient uptake of Trifolium plant. In this research, 525 independent observations were extracted from 30 published scientific papers through database search of Web of Science. The results indicated that total biomass, shoot biomass and root biomass of Trifolium were significantly increased by AM fungi inoculum. Plant uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus was also promoted. Both AM fungi species and Trifolium species showed influence on the effect of inoculation. Gigaspora margarita inoculation showed the largest amount of biomass enhancement in Trifolium, while the shoot and root biomass of T. alexandrinum strongly responded to AM fungi inoculation. The stress treatment significantly reduced the effect size of plant shoot and root biomass. The effect size of plant N, K and Zn uptake was significantly positively correlated with incubation time.