AMF play an important role in vegetation restoration. typical rocky vegetation restoration technology pilot demonstration

Karst landscapes are distributed worldwide, and account for nearly 15% of the land surface of the earth. The Karst region of southwest China covers 550,000 km2, and is one of the largest Karst regions in the world. The topographic features of the Karst region are caves, sinkholes and mogotes (isolated steep-sided hills).Because of its specific geological features, the ecological system in this region is fragile and extremely vulnerable to human disturbance. Recently, especially in the period of 1950s to 1990s, the process of land degradation and desertification in Karst region of southwest China has been accelerating by the increasing human population and over-exploitation natural resource. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important components of terrestrial ecosystem because they can form a mutualistic symbiosis with the roots of over 80% of all land plants. They may help plant to thrive in harsh conditions by increasing the supply of nutrients to the plant and improving soil structure. Besides, AMF can improve the ability of host plants to resist biotic or abiotic stresses such as drought, heavy metals, salinity. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are crucial in vegetation regeneration procedures since the AMF plays an important role in improving plant establishment and growth. Thus, the main objectives of this study are: 1) to investigate the dynamic changes of soil AMF community and, 2) to explore the relationships among the diversity of soil AMF, aboveground plant species diversity and soil properties with the Karst vegetation restoration