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The effect of Cercidium praecox and Prosopis laevigata on vertical distribution of soil free‐living nematode communities in the Tehuacán Desert, Mexico
Author(s) -
PenMouratov Stanislav,
RodriguezZaragoza Salvador,
Steinberger Yosef
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/s11284-008-0464-6
Subject(s) - prosopis , biology , soil biology , trophic level , abiotic component , ecology , abundance (ecology) , agronomy , environmental science , soil water
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 Tehuacán‐Cuicatlán 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 free‐living 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.