Discovering and quantifying the eco-physiological advantages of plant-soil-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) system: a promising eco-math-statistical modelling approach

Abstract “Plant-Soil-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF)” system dynamics are driven by complex arrays of simultaneous cause-effect relationships. So far, there has been no practical solution based on farm-measured traits to determine plant-fungus co-existence efficacy. Therefore, the objective of this study is to employ mathematical modeling to determine the contribution of AMF in symbiosis with maize using plant and soil-measured variables. Two field experiments as split plots arrangement based on Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications were conducted. Rhizophagus intraradices and Funneliformis mosseae as exogenous AMF inoculated with maize seeds. Analysis of variance were performed on the measured variables on maize, AMF and soil collected from field trials. Confirmatory factor analysis divided the variables into two factors. On the eco-physiological basis, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to explore structural relationships between the two identified factors, were named resource capture and resource utilization. An SEM model was formulated, including the path for cause-effect processes of capture and utilization of resources. Normalized chi-square = 2.33 indicated competency of the model. The direct advantages of AMF symbiosis reflect in R 2  = 0.37 of total variance that can be explained by resource capture and utilization through collaboration. The discovered causal structure provides the possibility of effective agroecological management of maize characteristics, intending to strengthen the plants in order to increase productivity, while reducing inputs, cost and time.