484
Relationship Between Soil Characteristics, Maize AMF Root Colonization
and Growth Parameters
Based on RDA, there was a positive correlation between AMF colonization potential and soil pH, calcium ions, soil organic matter, nitrogen and shoot dry weight
(Fig.  3). As expected, there was a negative correlation between available phosphates in the soil and maize AMF colonization, since high available P is known to
suppress AMF colonization potential. Nevertheless, available phosphates and
potassium ions correlated positively with root dry weights of the plants. According
to Jordan-meille and Pellerin (2018), phosphorus and potassium are important for
plant energetics. Potassium is necessary to plants due to its ability to activate
enzymes necessary for the metabolic processes, and its reduction has been reported
to reduce shoot and root dry weight accumulation in maize plants (Jordan-meille
and Pellerin 2018).
-1.5
0.5
-1.0
2.0
pH
SOM
N
Av.P
K
Ca
Na
%AMFColo
RooDryWe
ShoDryWe
Fig. 3 Redundancy
analysis (RDA) relating
the variation in percentage
AMF colonization, shoot
dry weight, root dry weight
and the soil properties in
each farm
E. M. Njeru et al.