Response of soil nematodes to climate change: A review

Abstract

Global climate change constitutes an important influence on terrestrial ecosystem functions. Soil nematodes exist widely in diverse ecological systems. As an important component of the soil food web, the soil nematode is crucial in maintaining biodiversity and regulating soil nutrient cycling. The various factors driving global change affect the soil nematode community via diverse mechanisms. Changes in temperature and precipitation directly affect soil nematode populations by changing the habitat. In addition, the positive effects would increase with time. CO2 enrichment and atmospheric nitrogen deposition can indirectly affect soil nematode communities via changes in vegetation, litter quality, and soil physiochemical properties (e.g. soil moisture, pH, ammonium concentration). At the same time, a better understanding of the complex interactions among the drivers of global change, and of how these interactions influence soil nematode communities, is required to predict how terrestrial ecosystems will respond to future climate changes.