The effect ofCercidium praecoxandProsopis laevigataon vertical distribution of soil free‐living nematode communities in the Tehuacán Desert, Mexico

Abstract

Vegetation cover is known to act as an abiotic mediator influencing the structure of soil fauna communities in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The aim of the current research was to determine the spatial dispersion of the soil free-living nematode community under the canopy of Cercidium praecox and Prosopis laevigata during the rainy season. These shrubs are the dominant plant associations in the western part of the Tehuaca´n-Cuicatla´n Valley in Mexico. Soil samples were taken from each 10-cm depth between 0 and 50 cm in August 2004. Our results demonstrated that the abundance and structure of the soil free-living nematode communities in the study area were strongly dependent on plant effects, specified by limited factors such as soil moisture and organic matter availability. The greatest degree of abundance of soil-free-living nematodes (88%) was found in the upper (0-10 cm) soil layer. Plant parasites were the most abundant trophic group under the two plants (58 and 36% under Parkinsonia (Cercidium) praecox and Prosopis laevigata, respectively), whereas omnivore-predators were the most dominant (96%) in inter-plant spaces. The fungivore/bacterivore (F/B) ratio was found to be the most useful tool of the ecological indices tested in the present study, reflecting the vertical distribution of the freeliving nematode communities beneath different plant species in the different soil layers. The soil free-living nematode communities and their vertical distribution were found to be affected by plant ecophysiological adaptation, soil moisture, and the interaction between them.

Vertical distribution of soil free-living nematode in a playa habitat in the North-Western Negev desert, Israel

“…Omnivores-predators in the in the sandy biological crust area were higher than that in the playa area (Pen-Mouratov et al, 2011), which supported our findings. All nematode trophic groups were significantly influenced by sampling sites and depths (Pen-Mouratov et al, 2008b), as also supported our results. Total 55 nematode genera were observed in all soil samples, which was higher than the taxa of nematode reported by Zhang et al (2007;2010) in terrestrial sand dune system of China.…”

“…Nematode ecological indices in different sampling sites, depths and seasons. 100 g dry soils) in the horqin sandy land, Northeast China (Jiang et al, 2007), yet was similar to the result (0 -675 individuals per 100 g dry soils) in in the Tehuacán Desert, Mexico (Pen-Mouratov et al, 2008b). Total number of nematode had the gradual decreasing trends with soil depths, which could reflect the stratification of their food resources.…”

“…Zhang et al (2010) reported that significant depth effects were found in the values of H', λ, SR. Similarly, Pen-Mouratov et al (2008b) reported that values of F/B, T, H', MI had significantly different between soil layers. Fungivore/bacterivore ratio (F/B) in the loessial plain area was higher than that in the playa area, which manifested that there had much more fungi community in the loessial plain area.…”

“…Jiang et al (2007) studied the vertical distribution of soil nematodes in the Horqin Sandy Land, Northeast China. Pen-Mouratov et al (2008b) observed the vertical distribution of soil free-living nematode communities in the Tehuacán Desert, Mexico. Zhang et al (2010) reported the spatial distribution of soil nematode communities in stable and active sand dunes of Horqin Sandy Land.…”

Nematofauna asociada a la rizosfera de papas (Solanum tuberosum) cultivadas en la zona productora del Cofre de Perote, Veracruz, México

“…en asociación con el cultivo de papa, pero sin causar daño a las plantas (Montes-Belmont, 2002). Pen-Mouratov et al (2008) registraron ambos géneros asociados con algunas leguminosas en el desierto de Tehuacán, en la región central de la República Mexicana. En otros países, Paratylenchus sp.…”