Nematode community composition in five alpine habitats

Abstract

Soil nematodes were studied in five alpine habitats (sedge mat, pasture, peat bog, moraine, and lichen heath) in the Austrian Alps (Obergurgl, Tyrol) from 2001 to 2002. A total of 75 genera within 49 families were found. The mean nematode population density ranged from 80 to 383 individuals 100 g–1 soil and increased during the short alpine growing season. The most abundant feeding groups were bacterial feeders followed by plant-parasitic nematodes. The number of nematode taxa differed only slightly between habitats. Diversity indices (H' =3.7-4.8 based on genera) and maturity indices (MI = 2.7-3.4) were generally high. Nematode community composition of the pasture and the peat bog differed markedly from the other three sites. Nematode data on genera and feeding types yielded a comparable similarity pattern for all sites but site discrimination was better at the genus level.

Nematode Community Structure Under Compost and Chemical Fertilizer Management Practice, in the North China Plain

“…The number of nematode genera (36) in our experimental site was less than that in alpine habitats (Hoschitz and Kaufmann, 2004) and at an intertidal marsh (Wu et al, 2005), but similar to that observed by Thornton and Matlack (2002). Nematode richness, as indicated by the number of genera (Ekschmitt et al, 2001), reflects biodiversity of soil habitat.…”

Soil nematodes in alpine meadows of the Tatra National Park (Slovak Republic)

“…The ratios of hyphal to bacterial feeding nematodes showed a constant preponderance of the bacterial feeding group. It is consistent with results of Hoschitz & Kaufmann (2004b). The minimum values of the Maturity index (MI) on the southern faces of the alpine summits were statistically signifi cant but did not seem biologically relevant (Hoschitz & Kaufmann, 2004a).…”

“…The numbers of species and genera at V3 were lower than in mountainous Carpathian meadows in Romania (Popovici & Ciobanu, 2000) and Austrian Alps (Hoschitz & Kaufmann, 2004b) but evidently greater than in Italian Alps studied by Vinciguerra (1988). Also the total SR and GR indices (Appendix 1) were lowest among the meadows studied.…”

“…This species can be accompanied by abundant populations of Paratylenchus with cp-value 2 and various species of Paratylenchus can be also dominant in meadows at lower elevations along with the cp-3 plant parasites. Bacterivorous nematodes are usually the second most abundant and dominant trophic groups following plant feeders (PP+RFF) in alpine and subalpine meadows in Central Europe and the majority of bacterivores belong to Plectus and Acrobeloides (Háněl, 1994;Popovici & Ciobanu, 2000;Hoschitz & Kaufmann, 2004b). The two genera also dominated in the sites studied and together with Aglenchus decreased the values of H'gen and ∑MI at V1.…”

“…This contrasts with the alpine sites studied by Popovici & Ciobanu (2000) where plant feeding nematodes dominated. In another study Hoschitz & Kaufmann (2004b) found that bacterivorous Acrobeloides were most abundant nematodes at Caricetum curvulae sedge mat (2595 m a. s. l.) while in an alpine pasture with dominant Poaceae (1961 m a. s. l.) the most abundant nematodes were plant feeding/ plant-associated Rotylenchus and Tylenchidae. This indicates that vegetation is also an important factor determining taxonomic and trophic composition of nematode assemblages while the richness of nematode taxa tends to be lower at higher elevations.…”