Diversity of soil nematodes in meadows of the White Carpathians

Abstract

Soil nematodes were studied in 11 meadow sites in the White Carpathians. In total, 155 species and 86 genera were found but the composition of nematode assemblages in eastern and western side of the mountains differed. Most nematode species belonged to the orders Tylenchida (52), Dorylaimida (35) and Rhabditida (16), and to the trophic groups bacterivores (47), plant parasites (29) and omnivores (25). In individual sites and sampling dates the number of species varied in range 18-68, genera 18-52, H'spp 1.32 - 3.50, H'gen 1.31 - 3.21, T 1.79 - 5.70, MI 2.32 - 3.63, PPI 2.03 - 2.98, and ΣMI 2.20 - 3.50. Composition of nematode assemblages and their matrix classification indicated a low degree of anthropogenous disturbance to the meadows.