Effects of alpine meadow degradation on soil nematode diversity and community composition on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

作者：Mingyang Zhang, Yu Sun, Yongsheng Yang, Li Zhang, Zhenhua Zhang, Jing Zhao, Longfei Chen, Huakun Zhou · 发表于：Ecological Indicators · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.114106 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Nematode management and characterization studies、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology

Soil nematodes play a critical role in maintaining ecosystem services; however, their community dynamics in response to alpine meadow degradation remain poorly understood. This study aimed to assess how alpine meadow degradation affects soil nematode diversity and community composition, and to identify the key biotic and abiotic factors driving these changes. In this study, soil samples were collected and analyzed from three alpine meadows exhibiting different degrees of degradation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We evaluated soil nematode community composition and diversity as well as a range of soil physicochemical properties during alpine meadow degradation and identified the ecological predictors of soil nematode diversity and community composition using NMDS and SEM analyses. Our results showed that: (1) as alpine meadow degradation intensified, the relative abundance of bacterivores and fungal feeders initially decreased but then increased, whereas the relative abundance of omnivores exhibited the opposite trend, and the relative abundance of predators and plant feeders did not significantly change. (2) Soil nematode diversity significantly changed with alpine meadow degradation, and nematode diversity was greatest under light degradation. (3) During the alpine meadow degradation process, soil properties (pH, soil total nitrogen and soil available nitrogen), especially pH, were key factors affecting soil nematode diversity, and plant below-ground biomass had the stronges...