Analysis of nematode trophic structure in agroecosystems: functional groups versus high resolution taxonomy

Abstract

Compared two methods of identifying fungivore, bacterivore, herbivore and omnivore/predator trophic groups of a nematode community in a corn agroecosystem. With the functional group approach the authors used gross esophageal morphology as the primary indicator of trophic status. With the high resolution taxonomy approach they identified nematodes to genus to determine trophic classification. The higher resolution taxonomic approach did not improve the trophic classifications that were based on gross morphology. The functional group approach can thus be used successfully to investigate soil food web structure and function because of the larger number of samples that can be processed in both time and space, and because highly specialized taxonomic training is not required. -from Authors