Effects of ectomycorrhizal fungi (Suillus variegatus) on the growth, hydraulic function, and non-structural carbohydrates of Pinus tabulaeformis under drought stress

Table 3 Effect of ECM fungi on some indicators of Pinus tabulaeformis seedlings under different drought intensity treatments. (mean ± standard error)

Drought intensity treatments (T)	ECM fungi (E)	Stem biomass (mg)	Stem water content (%)	Stomatal conductance (mmol H₂O m⁻² s⁻¹)	Intercellular CO₂ concentration (μmol CO₂ mol^− 1)
T1	Non-ECM	108 ± 10 a	56 ± 15 b	0.28 ± 0.10 a	362 ± 19 a
T1	ECM	195 ± 77 a	56 ± 3.6 b	0.29 ± 0.10 a	357 ± 11 a
T2	Non-ECM	110 ± 58 a	61 ± 10 a	0.04 ± 0.01 b	315 ± 66 a
T2	ECM	168 ± 91 a	63 ± 4.3 a	0.12 ± 0.05 b	325 ± 26 a
T3	Non-ECM	119 ± 10 a	32 ± 6.2 c	0.02 ± 0.01 c	308 ± 67 a
T3	ECM	191 ± 20 a	37 ± 7.3 c	0.04 ± 0.01 b	329 ± 48 a
Effect (P value)	T	ns	**	**	*
	E	ns	ns	*	ns
	T & E	ns	ns	ns	ns

Note: T1 = non-drought stress, T2 = moderate drought stress, T3 = severe drought stress. Data expressed as mean ± standard error (n = 6). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences between the means by Tukey (HSD) test (P < 0.05); “*” indicates that the interaction is significant (P<0.05); “**” indicates that the interaction is extremely significant (P<0.01); “ns” indicates no interaction (P ≥ 0.05)

ISSN: 1471-2229