Agriculture & Food, Volume 4, 2016

Abstract: In order to study the effect of soil factors (physical and chemical) and seasons on the exploratory functional distribution of EcM communities of Quercus suber L., an inventory was conducted in the cork oak forest of Taksebt located in the upper limit of the sub-humid temperate-Mediterranean level of Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria) and located at 36 °46'28 "N, 4 °37'60" E. The samples were concerned with roots collected at the four cardinal points at 1.50m distance from the collar of thirty trees. Sampling is carried out during the summer of the year 2011 to spring 2012. The morphological and anatomical study - according to Agerer (1987-2008) - allowed us to identify 58 ectomycorrhizal morphotypes (EcMs) divided into four groups: 18 of contact exploration type (C-ET), 15 of short-distance exploration type (SD-ET), 13 of medium distance exploration type (MD-ET), and finally 12 of a long-distance exploration type (LD-ET). A symbiotic activity is noted for the seasons of the year including winter and summer. We observed a small variation in richness during the year. The most important richness is observed in winter and functional strategy in favour of the C and SD exploration groups. Our study allows us to highlight the direct effect of mineralization and pH on the richness of the LD exploration type.