TY - JOUR

T1 - Nematode succession and microfauna-microorganism interactions during root residue decomposition

AU - Georgieva, Slavka

AU - Christensen, Søren

AU - Andersen, Karen Stevnbak

N1 - Keywords: Nematode; Protozoa; Succession; Bacterivorous; Fungivorous; Microfauna; Litter decomposition; Soil; Rhabditidae; Neodiplogasteridae; Flagellate

PY - 2005

Y1 - 2005

N2 - The quality of plant material affects the vigor of the decomposition process and composition of the decomposer biota. Root residues from hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), rye (Secale cereale L.) and vetch+rye, packed in litterbags were placed in pots of soil at 15 C and the content of the bags was analyzed after 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Bacterial biomass did not differ between residues with contrasting composition. Among bacterivores groups of nematodes that require high bacterial production dominated in fast decomposing resources whereas flagellates with smaller requirements prevail in slower decomposing resources. Biomass of bacterial feeding nematodes correlated positively with early phase (0-2 wk) decomposition that increased in the order: rye< vetch+ryeAphelenchus) being equally common in vetch and rye. Later in the succession (2-4 wk) bacterivorous Cephalobidae and fungivorous Aphelenchoides prevailed similarly on the different root materials whereas bacterivorous protozoa and the amoebal fraction thereof dominated in rye. At week 12 no species dominated the nematode assemblages that were similar between the resources. The differences between nematode assemblages among plant resources at 2 week were similar to the results of a field study sampled after 6 weeks with the same soil and plant resources. This lends support to the relevance of the successional patterns observed in this incubation study.

AB - The quality of plant material affects the vigor of the decomposition process and composition of the decomposer biota. Root residues from hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), rye (Secale cereale L.) and vetch+rye, packed in litterbags were placed in pots of soil at 15 C and the content of the bags was analyzed after 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Bacterial biomass did not differ between residues with contrasting composition. Among bacterivores groups of nematodes that require high bacterial production dominated in fast decomposing resources whereas flagellates with smaller requirements prevail in slower decomposing resources. Biomass of bacterial feeding nematodes correlated positively with early phase (0-2 wk) decomposition that increased in the order: rye< vetch+ryeAphelenchus) being equally common in vetch and rye. Later in the succession (2-4 wk) bacterivorous Cephalobidae and fungivorous Aphelenchoides prevailed similarly on the different root materials whereas bacterivorous protozoa and the amoebal fraction thereof dominated in rye. At week 12 no species dominated the nematode assemblages that were similar between the resources. The differences between nematode assemblages among plant resources at 2 week were similar to the results of a field study sampled after 6 weeks with the same soil and plant resources. This lends support to the relevance of the successional patterns observed in this incubation study.

U2 - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2005.02.010

DO - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2005.02.010

M3 - Journal article

VL - 37

SP - 1763

EP - 1774

JO - Soil Biology & Biochemistry

JF - Soil Biology & Biochemistry

SN - 0038-0717

IS - 10

ER -