DIVERSITY AND ECOLOGY OF ACTINORHIZAL PLANTS

Actinorhizal plants belong to 24 genera within eight plant families. A ll are perennial dicots and all except one genus are woody trees and s hrubs. They are pioneer species able to colonize severely disturbed si tes, and are thought to contribute to early succession in these sites by stabilizing the soil and building its nitrogen content. Actinorhiza l plant genera are distributed worldwide but they are more numerous an d more diverse in temperate regions.