The rapid conversion of native forests to farmland in Ethiopia, the cradle of biodiversity, threatens the diversity of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) pivotal to plant nutrition and carbon sequestration. This study aimed to investigate the impact of this land-use change on the AMF species composition and diversity in southern Ethiopia. Soil samples were collected from nine plots in each of three land-use types: native forest, agroforestry, and khat monocropping. The plots of the three land-use types were located adjacent to each other for each of the nine replicates. Three 10 × 10m subplots per plot were sampled. AMF spores were extracted from the soil samples, spore densities were determined, and species composition and diversity were evaluated through morphological analysis. Both spore density and species richness were statistically significantly higher in the native forest than in the agroforestry plots with no clear difference to khat, whereas the true diversity (exponential of Shannon–Wiener diversity index) did not differ among the three land-use types due to high evenness among the species in agroforestry. In total, 37 AMF morphotypes belonging to 12 genera in Glomeromycota were found, dominated by members of the genera Acaulospora and Glomus. The highest isolation frequency index (78%) was recorded for Acaulospora koskei from native forest. Consequently, the agroforestry system did not appear to aid in preserving the AMF species richness of native forests relative to perennial monocropping, such as khat cultivation. In contrast, the native forest areas can serve as in situ genetic reserves of mycorrhizal symbionts adapted to the local vegetative, edaphic, and microbial conditions.

作为生物多样性的摇篮，埃塞俄比亚的原生森林迅速转变为农田，威胁到了对植物营养和碳固存至关重要的丛枝菌根真菌（AMF）的多样性。本研究旨在调查土地利用变化对埃塞俄比亚南部 AMF 物种组成和多样性的影响。土壤样本是从三种土地利用类型（原生林、农林业和卡塔叶单一种植）各九个地块中采集的。九个重复中，三种土地利用类型的地块彼此相邻。每个地块采样了 3 个 10 × 10m 的子地块。从土壤样品中提取AMF孢子，测定孢子密度，并通过形态分析评估物种组成和多样性。原生林中的孢子密度和物种丰富度在统计学上显着高于农林地块，与阿拉伯茶没有明显差异，而真正的多样性（香农-维纳多样性指数的指数）在三种土地利用类型之间没有差异，因为农林业物种间的高度均匀性。总共发现了球囊菌门 12 属 37 种 AMF 形态型，其中以无尾孢属和球囊菌属为主。原生林中的Acaulospora koskei分离频率指数最高（78%）。因此，相对于多年生单一作物（如阿拉伯茶种植），农林业系统似乎无助于保护原生林的 AMF 物种丰富度。相比之下，原生森林地区可以作为适应当地植被、土壤和微生物条件的菌根共生体的原位遗传储备。