Soil Nematodes of Grasslands in Northern China

2017 | Science & Mathematics

Previous research in Chinese grasslands has provided much insight into the above-ground vegetation, however, relatively little attention has been paid to the below-ground biotic communities in the grassland ecosystem, with most of that research at a relatively small scale. Research on soil biodiversity has pointed out the dearth of information about the diversity of soil biota, especially at the genera or species level. This work breaks past the limitations of previous research on China's temperate grassland by presenting the findings and results of a large field survey along a transect across northern temperate grassland. It addresses the issue by first examining the nematode distribution patterns along the transect from trophic group, family, to genus level and evaluating their relationship with climatic conditions, plant biomass and soil parameters. It then presents detailed taxonomy information of nematodes to genus or species level, for better understanding the nematode diversity along the grassland transect in north China.

Finally, the authors review the advances and perspectives for the research of soil ecology focusing on soil nematodes in China, including recent major discoveries of soil microbial diversity and eco-function during this field survey. This information helps researchers gain insight in predicting the impact of global change drivers on belowground soil biota, and better understand the functioning and services they provide in terrestrial ecosystems.

Qi Li (Author)

Xiaoke Zhang (Author)

Wenju Liang (Author)

Mohammad Mahamood (Author)