Forest gap regulates soil nematode community through understory plant diversity and soil pH

作者：Haifeng Yin, Yu Su, Jie Zeng, Xianwei Li, Chuan Fan, Jing‐Zhong Lu, Zheng Zhou, Anwei Yu, Simin Wang, Stefan Scheu, Valentyna Krashevska · 发表于：Geoderma · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.117086 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Nematode management and characterization studies、Legume Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

• Forest gap size increased soil nematode abundance and herbivorous nematodes. • Herbivore and bacterivore nematodes dominated in forest gaps and closed canopies, respectively. • Large crown plants replaced small crown plants with the increase of gap age. • Microbial diversity and abundance significantly increased with gap age. Soil biodiversity and the structure of soil animal communities are important foundations for forest ecosystem functions. Forest gap formation is an important forest management practice used to transform monocultures into mixed forests. However, whether and how gap size and age affect soil biodiversity and modify nematode communities remains limited. We manipulated gap size (100, 200, and 400 m 2 ) in Pinus massoniana plantations and studied the communities of soil nematodes, bacteria, fungi, and understory plants two and four years after gap formation. Compared to the no-gap treatment, soil nematode abundance across forest gaps increased by a factor of 1.40, which was largely attributed to the increase in herbivorous nematodes as the abundance and diversity of understory plants increased. The increased abundance of soil nematodes in forest gaps was also associated with increased soil pH presumably related to reduced input of pine needles. Furthermore, the abundance (−5.3 %) and diversity (−25.1 %) of soil nematodes decreased with gap age, presumably because of increased soil temperature and decreased soil moisture in the four- compared to the two-year-...