Berney, M.F. and G. W. Bird
Presented at the All Scientist Meeting (1998-07-21 to 1998-07-22 )
Sampling has been conducted for two years from treatments eight, seven and a sub-treatment of seven, to establish a measurement system for the impact of disturbance upon nematode communities. Treatment eight is “traditionally not tilled” with approximately thirty years since disturbance. Treatment seven is “traditionally tilled” with approximately seven years since disturbance, at the beginning of our involvement. The sub-treatment within treatment seven was tilled at the start of this study. We refer to these treatments as 0, 7, and 30 years since disturbance. The sampling procedure calls for the same square meter to be sampled on each date, three times per year. Baerman pan extraction is used to draw nematodes from a soil sub-sample. The total nematodes collected from each sub-sample is counted, and 100 individuals are randomly selected for identification to genus. These genera are classified according to life history and feeding site. Several indices of maturity, diversity and stability are applied to the resulting data. The three treatments are separated by differences in several measures including total number of nematodes, percent of plant, bacterial and fungal feeders.Return to Contents
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