Soil nematode community changes associated with windfall and wildfire in forest soil at the High Tatras National Park, Slovak Republic

Abstract

123 SummaryThe paper presents research findings on the influence of windfall and wildfire on nematode communities in Lariceto-Piceetum forest in the High Tatras in Slovakia.Comparison was made of an intact (REF), affected and extracted (EXT), non-extracted (NEX) and burnt (FIR) forest stand. A total of 55 species belonging to 36 genera were found. The EXT locality harboured the majority of the identified species, but the highest abundance of nematodes was observed in the FIR locality. Bacterial feeders were the dominant trophic group in all investigated plots. In the REF bacterial feeders were followed by root-fungal feeders, fungal feeders and omnivores, in the EXT by omnivores and plant parasites, in the FIR by omnivores and root-fungal feeders and in the NEX by fungal feeders and omnivores. The MI and SI were higher in the REF and the EXT compared to those in the FIR and the NEX, the highest B/F ratio was observed in the FIR and the highest EI was found in the REF. We can conclude that disturbance of forest vegetation and soil has had a clear and demonstrable impact on nematode communities.

Composition and vertical distribution of free living and plant parasitic nematodes in hop gardens in the Czech Republic

“…Therefore, further monitoring of the occurrence of virus-vector nematodes is required in the future. Lower values of MI, ∑MI, H´gen, SI, CI and higher values of EI in our hop gardens investigated compared to those recored by Háněl and Čerevková (2006) in natural meadows or spruce forest (Čerevková & Renčo, 2009) indicate poorly-regulated, disturbed ecosystems (Ferris et al, 2001). This conclusion was also supported by the results of (O+P)/(B+F+RFF+PP), which also indicate a poor health ecosystem (Wasilewska, 1997).…”

Species and genera of soil nematodes in forest ecosystems of the Vihorlat Protected Landscape Area, Slovakia

“…Due to their diverse communities they significantly influence ecosystem processes, particularly in soil (Vinciguerra, 1979;Wasilewska, 1979;Bongers & Bongers, 1998), and they are a useful indicator of soil condition in forest ecosystems (Yeates, 2007). The fauna of soil nematodes in forest ecosystems of Slova-... kia was relatively well studied (Šály, 1983;Lišková et al, 2008;Čerevková & Renčo, 2009), but the eastern woodland of the Vihorlat mountains has not been paid attention till now. This territory is characterised by deciduous forests arranged in altitudinal gradient, moreover, these forests are still devoid of marked anthropogeneous disturbance.…”

Community structure of soil oribatida (acari) two years after windthrow in the high tatra mountains

“…Jonášová et al (2010) evaluated the development of natural regeneration in the cleared and uncleared areas to assess the regeneration capability of the windthrown forests. Several other studies have focused on the responses of soil biota to different management regimes in the plots of monitored windthrown stands, e.g., microorganisms (Gömöryová et al 2011), nematode communities (Čerevková & Renčo 2009) and soil Collembola (Čuchta et al 2012).…”