Comparative Ecological Analysis of Soil Nematode Communities in Agricultural and Barren Fields of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
Keywords:
nematode community, trophic groups, agricultural soil, bioindicators, soil ecologyAbstract
Soil nematodes constitute an important component of below-ground biodiversity and play diverse functional roles in soil food webs, ranging from bacterial and fungal feeding to plant parasitism, predation and omnivory. Their abundance, diversity and trophic composition can provide valuable insights into the ecological characteristics and biological functioning of soils. The present study was undertaken to analyse and compare the community structure and trophic composition of soil-inhabiting nematodes associated with agricultural and barren fields in Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Soil samples were collected from agricultural fields supporting major crops such as potato, paddy, maize and wheat, as well as from barren/waste lands dominated by elephant grass. Samples were collected during June, September and December from a depth of 5–10 cm. A total of 49 nematode genera representing five major trophic groups were recorded from crop fields, whereas 44 genera were identified from barren fields. In crop fields, bacteriovores constituted the largest trophic group in terms of both generic representation (41%) and abundance (53%), followed by plant parasites and fungivores. In barren fields, bacteriovores similarly represented the largest group in terms of generic diversity (36%) and abundance (46%), while fungivores constituted a substantial component of the community (29%). The predominance of bacteriovores and the occurrence of diverse fungivorous, omnivorous and predatory taxa indicate active soil food-web interactions. The study highlights the potential of soil nematode communities as ecological indicators for evaluating soil biological condition, habitat characteristics and changes associated with agricultural management.
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