Glomalin-related soil protein in a Mediterranean ecosystem affected by a copper smelter and its contribution to Cu and Zn sequestration.

The amount of glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP), a glycoprotein produced by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), its contribution to the sequestering of Cu and Zn in the soil, and the microsite variation of other soil traits (pH, water-stable aggregates--[WSA], soil organic carbon--[SOC]) was studied in a semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystem near a copper smelter and affected by deposit of metal-rich particles since 1964. Rhizospheric (R) and non-rhizospheric (NR) soil of four representative plants (Argemone subfusiformis, Baccharis linearis, Oenothera affinis and Polypogon viridis) was analyzed. The results showed a strong variability in GRSP (6.