Abstract
A survey of agricultural fields near Yamuna in Faridabad, Haryana was conducted to study the diversity and community structure of the soil inhabiting nematodes. A total of 32 genera belonging to 7 orders and 22 families were recorded. In terms of abundance, order Tylenchida was most abundant while in terms of number of genera, order Rhabditida was most frequent. Out of 32 genera, 10 viz., Pratylenchus, Psilenchus, Helicotylenchus, Hemicriconemoides, Hoplolaimus, Meloidogyne, Rotylenchulus, Tylenchorhynchus, Hirschmanniella, Xiphinema belonged to plant-parasitic nematodes. Overall Meloidogyne was the most abundant among all the nematode genera.
Monitoring of soil quality and health provides critical insights into the performance of ecosystems. Soil nematodes are useful indicators of soil condition because they are ubiquitous, occupy a central position in the soil food web and comprise a range of functional or trophic groups and are convenient to work with (Yeates et al., 1993, Sieriebriennikov et al., 2014). The contribution of soil nematodes to ecosystem processes and functions varies depending on the composition and diversity of the nematode community (Yeates et al., 2009; Costa et al., 2012, Porazinska et al., 2012). Nematode community composition is affected by fertilization, soil properties, vegetation and length of cultivation. The aim of the present study was to study the community structure of the soil inhabiting nematodes associated with crop fields near Yamuna river area in Faridabad, Haryana to assess the role of nematodes as indicators of soil condition.
Keywords
Community Analysis, Yamuna, Tylenchida, Rhabditida, Nematode
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