Spatial ecology of soil nematodes: perspectives from global to micro scales

Publication date: Available online 10 August 2019Source: Soil Biology and BiochemistryAuthor(s): Ting Liu, Feng Hu, Huixin LiAbstractSoil spatial heterogeneity is a major determinant of biological diversity and functions. Among soil biota, nematodes are considered as excellent models for understanding spatial soil ecology due to their wide niche breadth in diet, lifestyle and living habitat. Their distribution, community composition and functional diversity in heterogeneous environments provide insight into identification of factors that driving spatial heterogeneity of populations and activities of soil organisms. In this review, we synthesize current knowledge on spatial ecology of soil nematodes providing new testable hypotheses and proposing new roads for future research. We evaluate recent studies on the latitudinal patterns of soil nematodes and summarize key determinants of nematode spatial distribution from global to micro (millimeter) scales based on the studies published over the past few decades. We found relative contribution of drivers influencing nematode distribution vary across spatial scales, and soil properties (e.g., soil organic matter) operating at all spatial scales thus can be considered as key drivers. We suggest two biological interactions, i.e., nematode-prey interactions as well as nematode-host interactions, which are expected to act as powerful determinants of the patchy distribution of microbes and plants from micro to field scales. We outline so...
Source: Soil Biology and Biochemistry - Category: Biology Source Type: research