ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI IN REVEGETATED MINED DUNES R. G. DE SOUZA 1 , D. K. A. DA SILVA 1 , C. M. A. DE MELLO 1 , B. T. GOTO 4 , F. S. B. DA SILVA 3 , E. V. S. B. SAMPAIO 2 AND L. C. MAIA 1 * 1 Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biologia de Fungos, Departamento de Micologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Nelson Chaves, s/n, Recife, PE 50670‐ 420, Brazil 2 Departamento de Energia Nuclear, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Luis Freire 1000, Recife, PE 50740‐540, Brazil 3 Universidade de Pernambuco, Campus Petrolina (UPE), BR 203, Km 2, Petrolina, PE 56300‐ 000, Brazil 4 Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Campus Universitário, Natal, RN 59072‐970, Brazil Received 16 November 2010; Revised 22 February 2011; Accepted 25 February 2011 ABSTRACT This study aimed to thoroughly investigate communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in six coastal, mined, reconstituted and revegetated dune areas in Northeast Brazil. AMF spore density and species richness as well as the numbers of infective AMF propagules and glomalin‐related soil protein (GRSP) were analyzed. Four areas had been restored for 16, 12, 8 and 4 years, and after being mined, reconstituted and re‐vegetated, the fifth was mined and reconstituted but not yet re‐vegetated, and the sixth had a native and undisturbed coastal forest vegetation. The soil samples were sampled in the dry and wet seasons of 2005. The number of infective propagules was significantly higher in the dry than in wet season, except in the un‐vegetated dune area, which had less than 0.2 propagules cm -3 soil. AMF spore density and especially GRSP contents changed little between the seasons. GRSP contents were positively correlated to Al and Fe soil levels and were highest in the restinga forest. In total, 29 AMF species were identified, and glomoid and gigasporoid species predominated in all areas. AMF species richness and viable propagules of AMF were lowest in the un‐vegetated dune area. Remarkably, higher species richness (28) was found in the re‐vegetated areas, compared with the forest area that had only 10 species. The numbers of infective propagules tended to be also lower in the forest than in the re‐vegetated sites. In conclusion, re‐vegetation appears to favour the AMF communities in terms of infective propagule numbers and AMF species richness. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. key words: sand dune; glomerospores; AMF diversity; MPN; glomalin; Brazil; mine spoil restoration INTRODUCTION Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are an important functional group of soil microbiota in natural ecosystems, increasing the interface between plants and the physical and biological environment. They provide host plants with greater resistance and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses and influence the floristic composition and the productivity of the ecosystems (van der Heijden et al., 1998). In coastal dunes, where environmental conditions are adverse, with predominantly sandy soils and low nutrient and organic matter content, arbuscular mycorrhiza are associated with most of the plants (Alarcón and Cuenca, 2005), representing important components for vegeta- tion establishment and growth (Rodríguez‐Echeverría and Freitas, 2006) and for soil‐particle binding. However, in dunes where environmental disturbance has involved vegetation and soil removal, the presence of AMF is strongly compromised, affecting plant community succes- sion (Gemma and Koske, 1992). In severely impacted areas, recovery of edaphic functions includes incorporation of biologically active soil fractions, which encourage the establishment of vegetative and microbial communities and, consequently, the return of biological activity (Gonçalves et al., 2003). Dune stabiliza- tion and revegetation programs, in general, have not included studies about the mycorrhizal condition of the plants that will be introduced, the diversity of the AMF associated with these plants or the benefits that such organisms can provide (Rodríguez‐Echeverría and Freitas, 2006). However, it has been shown that the roots of plants that colonize sand dunes (lacustrine, inland and maritime) are usually associated with AMF (Gemma and Koske, 1997). Management of soil microbiota associated with native plant introduction may be the first step to self‐sustaining ecosystem restoration (Barea et al., 2002), but in areas where the vegetation has been destroyed, the viable propagules of AMF rapidly decline (Reeves et al., 1979; Tian et al., 2009). Thus, if the introduced plant species are dependent upon mycorrhizal association, the presence of * Correspondence to: L. C. Maia, Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biologia de Fungos, Departamento de Micologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Nelson Chaves, s/n, Recife, PE 50670‐420, Brazil. E‐mail: leonorcmaia@yahoo.com.br Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. land degradation & development Land Degrad. Develop. (2011) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/ldr.1113