Fungal colonization patterns during a growing season were found to be species-specific
in the low-alpine meadows. A statistically significant decline towards the end of the the
season was detected only in Trollius europaeus (III). Also the hyphal and DSE
colonizations in Alchemilla glomerulans decreased towards the autumn. Ranunculus acris
maintained relatively high colonizations through the summer. Carex vaginata did not
form arbuscular structures, but it was often colonized by DSE and HSE, which both had
no seasonal shifts. Soil soluble phosphorus concentration had seasonal variation, but the
concentration patterns were also highly variable between study sites. Flower bud removal
decreased the arbuscular colonization of R. acris, but in the other species studied no
effect was detected. The root colonizations did not correlate with soil phoshorus to any
considerable extent and also the correlations between DSE and AM did not show any
consistent trend.