Free-living nematodes associated with kiwifruit and effect of soil chemical properties on their diversity

Responses of soil nematode abundance and food web to cover crops in a kiwifruit orchard

“…In this study, soil NO 3 − -N, MBN, MBC, SMC, and SOC were the important parameters contributing to the changes in soil nematode community composition. Previous study found that the dominant groups were Rhabditis, Cephalobus persegnis, and Aporcelaimellus in kiwifruit orchard soils (Sekhukhune et al, 2022a), whereas in our study, Aphelenchoides, Eucephalobus, and Rhabditis were the dominant genus. This difference may be caused by cover crops, which improved soil properties and increased the resource availability, subsequently affecting the composition of nematode communities (Zhang et al, 2022).…”

“…This difference may be caused by cover crops, which improved soil properties and increased the resource availability, subsequently affecting the composition of nematode communities (Zhang et al, 2022). The dominant groups of plant parasites (Pratylenchus, Tylenchorhynchus, and Tylenchus) in our study were also different from Sekhukhune et al (2022b), who found that Helicotylenchus, Meloidogyne hapla, and Scutellonema brachyurus were the prevalent nematodes in kiwifruit orchard soil. This may be due to different soil management measures including fertilization, tillage, planting, and covering crops.…”