Features of soil nematode communities in various types of natural biocenoses: Effectiveness of assessment parameters

Abstract

The relations of different characteristics of soil nematode communities with the type of natural (forest and meadow) biocenoses and the main parameters of assessment of the state of soil ecosystems were determined in the course of monitoring. It was found that the number of nematodes and number of taxa in the fauna are highly variable. It was noted that meadow biocenoses stand apart by the diversity of nematodes and the proportion of plant parasites in the community structure. A significant functional contribution in the distinguishing of the main types of biocenoses was determined only for the index reflecting the organic matter decomposition in the soil using discriminant analysis. It was shown that the complex analysis of the parameters of nematode communities most informatively characterizes the state of the soil ecosystem.