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

Abstract

SummaryThe assemblages of soil nematodes were studied at fi ve alpine meadow sites, 1763 -2200 m. a. s. l., in the Tatra National Park in the Slovak Republic. A total of 110 species were distinguished, 19 species were recorded in the Slovak Republic for the fi rst time. . The lowest values of the Maturity Indices (∑MI, MI) were found at the highest elevation. The signifi cantly highest values of the Plant Parasite Index were at the lowest elevation. The mean values of the of the Enrichment Index varied from 16.3 to 38.4, the mean values of the Structure Index from 64.1 to 85.4. The Structure metabolic footprints were signifi cantly greater at the lowest elevation than at the highest elevation. Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis performed on species presence and absence, genera abundance and genera metabolic footprints showed nematode assemblages at sites of higher elevations different from those at sites of lower elevations.

Nematode community diversity and function across an alpine landscape undergoing plant colonization of previously unvegetated soils

“…Terrestrial nematode communities, including those from alpine environments, have been generally dominated by bacterial feeders (Azzoni et al, 2015;Háněl, 2017;Hoschitz and Kaufmann, 2004;van den Hoogen et al, 2019). However, the communities at Niwot Ridge were different from these other sites (e.g., Mont Blanc and Tatra Mountains) probably due to the much higher elevation of our study (>3600 m.a.s.l.…”

“…Third, the great majority of the colonizing species were in the cp 2-5 category. Among the most dominant bacterivores, similar genera/families were also found in the alpine meadows of the Tatra Mountains and summits in the Austrian Alps (Háněl, 2017;Hoschitz and Kaufmann, 2004) and included species in 5 main families: Plectidae, Teratocephalidae, Prismatolamidae, Cephalobidae, and Monhysteridae. Their colonizing ability likely reflects an adaptation to cope with freezing in an anhydrobiotic state (McSorley, 2003).…”

“…Overall, nematodes identities at the genus/family level in our study were remarkably similar to those observed in other high-latitude and high-elevation environments. In particular, dominant bacterivorous nematodes in unvegetated and/or sparsely vegetated soils in Svalbard and high alpine soils (e.g., debris-covered glaciers, alpine tundra, and summits) in the Alps and Tatra Mountains (Azzoni et al, 2015;Háněl, 2017;Hoschitz and Kaufmann, 2004;Kerfahi et al, 2016Kerfahi et al, , 2017) also included Plectus, Teratocephalus, and Prismatolaimus confirming their unique ability to thrive under cold and limited resource conditions (Artois et al, 2011;Loof, 1971). Because of their preference for such conditions, with continuing climate warming these microscopic worms may eventually experience climate-driven habitat loss similar to that of aboveground organisms (e.g., cryophilic plants and animals) that are adapted to cold and oligotrophy (Friggens et al, 2018;Pauli et al, 2019).…”

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“…As they are extremely sensitive to environmental disturbance, the prevalence of the omnivores and predators indicates that the region studied is in the stable later stage of succession, and the ecosystem has remained undisturbed. Soil environmental factors under the influence of plant communities, such as soil temperature and humidity, as well as pH, form and content of nutrient elements, organic matter content and soil type, explain the differences in nematode community composition between different sites, but no one of these factors can be said to be more important than the others (Zhan et al 2019;Hánĕl 2017;Siemann et al 1998).…”

First report of the Rotylenchus agnetis Szczygieł, 1968, Rotylenchus pumilus Perry, 1959 and Paratylenchus nanus Cobb, 1923 associated with Miscanthus x giganteus in Ukraine

“…Among plant parasitic nematodes several species, including spiral Rotylenchus Steiner, 1945 and pin Paratylenchus [Micoletzky 1922] were shown as species associated with Poaceae family [Háněl 2017, Ghaderi 2019]. If the area of M. × giganteus that also belongs to Poaceae family increases, these nematode might parasitise the crop and cause the yield reduction.…”