Effects of vegetation coverage on the spatial distribution of soil nematode trophic groups

The spatial variability of total soil nematodes and trophic groups in bare and fallow plots in Shenyang Experi-mental Station of Ecology,ChineseAcademy of Sciences was examined using geostatistics combined with classic statistics.Results showed that the soil pH value had a negative effect on plant-parasites in both bare and fallow plots;the mean number of total nematodes was significantly higher in fallow plots than in bare plots,which was 1485.3 and 464.0 individuals per 100 g dry soil in fallow and bare plots,respectively;the nugget(C_(0))/sill(C_(0)+C)ratio of total nematodes,plant-parasites and bacterivores were lower in fallow plots(27.3%-45.6%)than in bare plots(49.5%-100%);the spatial distribution of total nematodes and trophic groups was found to be different between fallow and bare plots,which indicated that vegetation coverage had an effect on soil nematodes.

Diversity of beetle species and functional traits along gradients of deadwood suggests weak environmental filtering

Background: Gradients in local environmental characteristics may favour the abundance of species with particular traits, while other species decline, or favour species with different traits at the same time, without an increase in average species abundances. Therefore, we asked: do variations in species and traits differ along gradients of deadwood variables? Do species abundance and trait occurrence change with species richness within or between functional groups? Thus, we analysed the beetle assemblages of five forest sites located in Italy, along the Apennines mountains.Methods: From 2012 to 2018 we sampled beetles and five deadwood types in 193 plots to characterise the deadwood gradient: standing dead trees, snags, dead downed trees, coarse woody debris, and stumps. We modelled beetle species relative abundances and trophic traits occurrences against the deadwood variables using joint species distribution models.Results: Out of 462 species, only 77 showed significant responses to at least one deadwood type, with a weak mean response across species. Trophic groups showed mostly negative responses to deadwood variables. Species abundance increased with species richness among sites only for phytophagous and saproxylophagous. Trait occurrence did not increase with species richness among sites, except for phytophagous and saproxylophagous.However, trait occurrence changed significantly with species richness of several trophic groups within some sites.We found that increases in species richness do not result in decreases in species abundance of a given trophic group, but rather null or positive relationships were found suggesting low interspecific competition.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that in Mediterranean mountain forests there is still room for increasing the level of naturalness, at least for what concerns deadwood management. On one side, our findings suggest that competition for deadwood substrates is still low, on the other side they indicate that increasing deadwood volume and types to improve overall beetle richness may increase also beetle abundances.

Effect of heavy metals on soil nematode communities in the vicinity of a metallurgical factory

The influence of Cu and Zn on soil nematode communities was examined along a pollution gradient with increasing distance from a metallurgical factory. Total and available heavy metal contents were used to study the effects of heavy metals on nematode abundance, trophic groups and ecological indices. The results demonstrated significant correlations between the number of total nematodes, bacterivores, plant-parasites and the total and available heavy metals. Bacterivores and plant-parasites were the dominant trophic groups. Significant differences in different sampling sites were found only in the number of bacterivores（P〈0.01）. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index（W）, trophic diversity index（TD）, evenness index（J＇） and dominance index（λ） were found to be sensitive to soil pH and C/N ratios. Significant correlations were found between the total nematodes （TNEM）, some genera （A crobeloides, Aphelenchoides, Cephalobus, Ditylenchus, Mesorhabditis, Tetylenchus and Tylenchus） and distance from the factory.

Effect of free-air CO_2 enrichment on nematode communities in a Chinese farmland ecosystem

At a rice wheat rotational free air CO 2 enrichment(FACE) platform, the effect of elevated atmospheric CO 2 on soil nematode communities in a farmland ecosystem was studied. Wheat plots were exposed to elevated atmospheric CO 2(ambient 370 μl/L + 200 μl/L). 32 families and 40 genera of nematode were observed in soil suspensions during the study period. Under FACE treatment, the numbers of total nematodes, bacterivores and fungivores exhibited an increasing trend. Because of the seasonal variation of soil temperature and moisture, the effect of elevated atmospheric CO 2 on soil nematodes was only observed under favorable conditions. The response of nematode communities to elevated atmospheric CO 2 may indicate the change of soil food web.

Profiling soil free-living nematodes in the Namib Desert, Namibia

Functional structure and diversity of soil free-living nematodes in a desert environment depend on plant gender and sampling site.The objective of this study was to compare the composition,abundance and tropic group of soil free-living nematodes in the upper 0–10 cm soil layer under the male and female Acanthosicyos horridus Welw.ex Hook.f.plants and in the inter-shrub open areas(control)in the Namib Desert,Namibia in April 2015.Soil moisture,organic matter(OM)and pH was also analyzed.Free-living nematodes were extracted from 100 g soil using the Baermann funnel procedure,and total number of nematodes was counted under a microscope.Community composition and diversity of soil free-living nematodes were analyzed using 18S rDNA sequences.Results indicated that a total of 67 groups,including 64 species,2 genera and 1 family were identified.Feeding behavior of 58 species were identified as follows:15 bacteria-feeding species,12 fungi-feeding species,10 plant-parasite species,5 omnivorous-predator species,8 animal-parasite species,5 invertebrate-parasite species and 3 non-free-living nematodes,known as marine species.Moreover,soil free-living nematodes were found to be affected by sampling locations and plant gender,and community composition and density of these nematodes were strongly influenced by soil OM content.Result confirmed that spatial location and plant cover were main factors influencing the diversity of soil free-living nematodes.Moreover,molecular tools were found to be very useful in defining the richness of soil non-free-living nematodes.In conclusion,the results elucidated the importance of biotic variables in determining the composition and abundance of soil free-living nematodes in the Namib Desert,Namibia.

Soil macrofaunal communities develop a habitat-specific trophic structure dependent on the degree of degradation of alpine wetlands

The alpine wetlands in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have degraded in recent decades.However,the response of the soil food web to the degradation is still unclear.Four habitats including a wet meadow(WM),a grassland meadow(GM),a moderately degraded meadow(MDM)and a severely degraded meadow(SDM)(sandy meadows)were selected along the degrees of degradation.The soil macrofaunal biomass and the environmental factors of vegetation and soil were investigated.The soil macrofaunal community biomass increased significantly from WMto MDM and decreasedto a very small amount in SDM,with most taxa disappearing.The biomass of the trophic groups of detritivores,herbivores and predators exhibited similar responses to soil macrofaunal communities.The relative biomass of detritivores increased from WM to MDM,but herbivores responded in an opposite manner,resulting in the dominant trophic group and trophic structure varying progressively from WM to GM to MDM.Soil properties but not vegetation determined the changes in trophic groups and trophic structure.The results implied that the higher trophic levels(carnivores or omnivores)responded more sensitively than the lower trophic levels(herbivores)to alpine wetland degradation.Our results also suggested that soil macrofauna have a habitat-specific characteristic trophic structure and can be used as indicators of soil health conditions.

Free-living nematode community structure and distribution within vineyard soil aggregates under conventional and organic management practices

Soil biota play a crucial role in soil ecosystem stability, promoting organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Compared to conventional farming,organic farming is known to improve soil properties such as aggregation. Despite the importance of soil microbial communities in soil biogeochemical processes, our knowledge of their dynamics is rudimentary, especially under different agricultural management practices. Here we studied the effects of vineyard management practices(conventional and organic) and soil aggregate fractions(micro-, meso-, and macroaggregates) on free-living soil nematodes.The abundance, diversity, and ecological indices, such as the Wasilewska index and trophic diversity, of free-living soil nematodes were determined. We found that the abundance of free-living soil nematodes was increased by organic farming. In addition, plant parasites were found to increase in macroaggregates in the organic plot, which may be attributed to the weeds present due to no-tillage and no herbicides. Nematode family network connectivity increased in complexity with increasing aggregate size, highlighting the importance of the interplay between nematodes and soil inter-aggregate pore size and connectivity.

The effects of plant resource inputs on the energy flux of soil nematodes are affected by climate and plant resource type

The relative abundance of different components of the soil food web can vary tremendously in response to plant resource inputs.However,little is known about the mechanisms that plant resource regulates the energy fluxes and soil community composition.Here,we experimentally reduced litter and root inputs for two years in China at low-,mid-,and high-latitude forests to explore the effects of plant-derived resource inputs on the nematode energy flux and community composition.Litter reduction at high and mid latitudes and root removal at low latitudes reduced nematode richness but did not alter nematode abundance.Besides,litter reduction reduced energy fluxes of bacterial-feeding nematodes at mid latitudes and energy fluxes of plant-feeding,bacterial-feeding and omnivorous-predatory nematodes at low latitudes,thus reducing the energy fluxes of total nematodes in mid-and low-latitude forests.By contrast,root removal reduced energy fluxes and relative energy flux of plant-feeding nematodes in high-and low-latitude forests.In most cases,nematode diversity in different trophic groups increased with increasing energy flux to nematodes.Taken together,our results suggest that the effects of plant resource inputs on nematode energy flux are affected by climate and plant resource type,which improves our understanding of plant-soil interactions.

Effect of organic amendment amount on soil nematode community structure and metabolic footprints in soybean phase of a soybean-maize rotation on Mollisols

It has been well documented that organic amendment affects soil nematode community structure.However,little is known about the effect of organic amendment amount on soil nematodes.To assess the effect of the amount of organic amendments on soil nematode community structure and metabolic activity,the community composition,abundance,and metabolic footprints of soil nematodes were determined in a long-term field experiment with various amounts of organic amendment in Northeast China.Fertilization treatments included an unfertilized control(CK),chemical fertilizer without manure amendment(OM0),manure applied at 7.5 Mg ha^-1 plus chemical fertilizer(OM1),and manure applied at 22.5 Mg ha^-1 plus chemical fertilizer(OM2).A total of 46 nematode genera were found.Treatments with the largest amount of organic amendment had the smallest number of plant parasite genera(5),but a largest number of dominant genera(7).Soil nematodes,bacterivores,and fungivores were the most abundant in OM2,followed by OM1,and the lowest in OM0 and CK.Organic amendment increased the enrichment index(EI),and the large amount of organic amendment increased the metabolic footprints of bacterivore(Baf)and fungivore(Fuf)and enrichment footprint(Ef).The relationships between Baf(or Fuf)and the increases in soil organic carbon(?SOC)and total nitrogen(?TN)were stronger than those of bacterivore(or fungivore)abundance with?SOC and?TN,except for the relationship between bacterivore abundance and ?SOC.The EI and Ef were positively correlated with ?SOC and ?TN.These findings suggest that the amount of organic amendment affects soil nematode activity and function at entry levels in soil food web,and that metabolic footprints of soil nematodes may be better indicators than their abundances in assessing their relationships with soil nutrients.

Mowing did not mitigate the negative effects of nitrogen deposition on soil nematode community in a temperate steppe

Soil nematodes are the most numerous components of the soil fauna in terrestrial ecosystems.The occurrence and abundance of nematode trophic groups determine the structure and function of soil food webs.However,little is known about how nitrogen deposition and land-use practice(e.g.mowing)affect soil nematode communities.We investigated the main and interactive effects of nitrogen addition and mowing on soil nematode diversity and biomass carbon in nematode trophic groups in a temperate steppe in northern China.Nitrogen addition and mowing significantly decreased the abundance of soil nematodes and trophic diversity but had no effects on nematode richness and the Shannon-Wiener diversity.Nitrogen addition influenced soil nematode communities through decreasing soil pH.Mowing influenced soil nematode communities through decreasing soil moisture.Nitrogen addition enhanced the bacterial energy channel but mowing promoted fungal energy channel in the soil micro-food web.Our study emphasizes that ecosystem function supported by soil organisms can be greatly influenced by nitrogen deposition,and mowing cannot mitigate the negative effects of nitrogen deposition on soil food webs.