Ambiguity exists concerning the effects of climate on soil nematode-community composition. In this study, we examined the free-living nematode communities in soil along a climatic gradient representing humid-Mediterranean, Mediterranean, semi-arid, and arid climate types. The relationships between abiotic soil characteristics (organic carbon, soil moisture (SM), water-holding capacity) and nematode parameters, such as abundance, trophic group composition, and diversity indices, were explored in the context of climate and seasonality. Nematode abundance was lowest at the arid site. At the humid Mediterranean and Mediterranean locations, nematode abundance reached its peak in winter, while at the semi-arid and arid sites, an almost opposite trend was observed, with lowest abundances in winter, presumably due to a nutrient washout from the soil profile during the rainy season. On the trophic level, one trophic group demonstrated a positive correlation with SM and one trophic group demonstrated a negative one at each location, while the other two groups remained constant. Fungi-feeding nematodes were found to be unaffected by SM at the humid-Mediterranean and Mediterranean locations, while at the semi-arid and arid sites their proportion increased in correlation with decreasing SM. Bacteria-feeders increased with SM at the arid site, were unaffected at the semi-arid location, and decreased with SM at the humid-Mediterranean and Mediterranean sites. Plant-parasites were associated with SM only at the humid-Mediterranean site. Omnivores-predators were positively affected by SM at the two middle locations, staying constant at the humid-Mediterranean and arid sites. These findings point to the strong linkage existing between nematode trophic behavior and climatic factors, demonstrating distinctive communal fingerprints for each climate type.
KeywordsClimate GradientDiversitySoil NematodeTrophic Group
Wardle, D.A., Bardgett, R.D., Klironomos, J.N., Setala, H., Van Der Putten, W.H. and Wall, D.H. (2004) Ecological linkages between aboveground and belowground biota. Science, 304, 1629-1633. doi:10.1126/science.1094875
Bongers, T. and Bongers, M. (1998) Functional diversity of nematodes. Applied Soil Ecology, 10, 239-251. doi:10.1016/S0929-1393(98)00123-1
Yeates, G.W., Bongers, T., De Goede, R.G.M., Freckman, D. and Georgieva, S.S. (1993) Feeding habits in soil nematode families and genera—An outline for soil ecologists. Journal of Nematology, 25, 315-331.
Wall, D.H. and Virginia, R.A. (1999) Controls on soil biodiversity: Insight from extreme environment. Applied Soil Ecology, 13, 137-150. doi:10.1016/S0929-1393(99)00029-3
Hogg, I.D., Cary, S.C., Convey, P., Newsham, K.K., O’Donnell, A.G., Adams, B.J., Aislabie, J., Frati, F., Stevens, M.I. and Wall, D.H. (2006) Biotic interactions in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems: Are they a factor? Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38, 3035-3040. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2006.04.026.
Whitford, W.G. (2002) Ecology of desert systems. Academic Press, New York, London.
Pen-Mouratov, S., He, X.L. and Steinberger, Y. (2004) Spatial distribution and trophic diversity of nematode populations under Acacia raddiana along a temperature gradient in the Negev Desert ecosystem. Journal of Arid En- vironments, 56, 339-355. doi:10.1016/S0140-1963(03)00058-2
Ettema, C.H. and Bongers, T. (1993) Characterization of nematode colonization and succession in disturbed soil using the maturity index. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 16, 79-85. doi:10.1007/BF00369407
Elliott, E.T. (1997) Rationale for developing bioindicators of soil health. In: Pankhurst, C., Doube, B.M. and Gupta, V.V.S.R., Eds., Biological Indicators of Soil Health, Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International, New York, 49-78.
Ferris, H., Bongers, T. and De Goede, R.G.M. (2001) A framework for soil food web diagnostics: Extension of the nematode faunal analysis concept. Applied Soil Ecology, 18, 13-29. doi:10.1016/S0929-1393(01)00152-4
Chen, X.Y., Daniell, T.J., Neilson, R., O'Flaherty, V. and Griffiths, B.S. (2010) A comparison of molecular methods for monitoring soil nematodes and their use as biological indicators. European Journal of Soil Biology, 46, 319-324. doi:10.1016/j.ejsobi.2010.05.002
Keith, A.M., Boots, B., Hazard, C., Niechoj, R., Arroyo, J., Bending, G.D., Bolger, T., Breen, J., Clipson, N., Doohan, F.M., Griffin, C.T., Schmidt, O. (2011) Cross-taxa congruence, indicators and environmental gradients in soils under agricultural and extensive land management. Euro- pean Journal of Soil Biology, 49, 55-62.
Gray, S.B., Classen, A.T., Kardol, P., Yermakov, Z. and Miller, R.M. (2011) Multiple climate change factors interact to alter soil microbial community structure in an old-field ecosystem. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 75, 2217-2226. doi:10.2136/sssaj2011.0135
Kardol, P., Cregger, M.A., Campany, C.E. and Classen, A.T. (2010) Soil ecosystem functioning under climate change: Plant species and community effects. Ecology, 91, 767- 781. doi:10.1890/09-0135.1
Fleischer, A. and Sternberg, M. (2006) The economic impact of global climate change on Mediterranean rangeland ecosystems: A space-for-time approach. Ecological Economics, 59, 287-295. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.10.016
Holzapfel, C., Tielborger, K., Parag, H.A., Kigel, J. and Sternberg, M. (2006) Annual plant-shrub interactions along an aridity gradient. Basic Applied Ecology, 7, 268-279. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2005.08.003
Dan, J., Yaalon, D.H., Koyumdji, H., Raz, Z. (1972) The soil association map of Israel (1:1,000,000). Israel Journal of Earth Sciences, 2, 29-49.
Evenari, M.E., Shanan, L. and Tadmor, W. (1982) The Negev: The challenge of a desert. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Black, C.A. (1965) Methods of soil analysis: Part 1. Physical and mineralogical properties. American Society of Agronomy, Madison.
Oren, A. and Steinberger, Y. (2008) Catabolic profiles of soil fungal communities along a geographic climatic gradient in Israel. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 40, 2578- 2587. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.05.024
Rowell, D.L. (1994) Soil science: Methods and applications. Longman Group UK Ltd., London.
Cairns, E.J. (1960) Methods in nematology. In: Sasser, J.N. and Jenkins, W.R., Eds., Nematology, Fundamentals and Recent Advances with Emphasis on plant Parasitic and Soil Forms. University of North Carolina Press, Cha- pel Hill, 33-84.
Steinberger, Y. and Sarig, S. (1993) Response by soil nematode populations in the soil microbial biomass to a rain episode in the hot, dry Negev Desert. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 16, 188-192. doi:10.1007/BF00361406
Bongers, T. (1990) The maturity index: An ecological measure of environmental disturbance based on nematode species composition. Oecologia, 83, 14-19. doi:10.1007/BF00324627
Wasilewska, L. (1994) The effect of age of meadows on succession and diversity in soil nematode communities. Pedobiologia, 38, 1-11.
Steinberger, Y., Liang, W., Savkina, E., Mesh, T., Barness, G. (2001) Nematode community composition and diversity associated with a topoclimatic transect in a rain shadow desert. European Journal of Soil Biology, 37, 315-320. doi:10.1016/S1164-5563(01)01107-4
Pen-Mouratov, S., Rakhimbaev, M., Steinberger, Y. (2003) Seasonal and spatial variation in nematode communities in the Negev Desert ecosystem. Journal of Nematology, 35, 157-167.
Heip, C., Herman, P.M.J. and Soetaert, K. (1988) Data processing, evaluation and analysis. In: Higgins, R.P. and Thiel, H., Eds., Introduction to the Study of Meiofauna, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, 197-231.
Shannon, C.E. and Weaver, W. (1949) The mathematical theory of communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.
Pen-Mouratov, S., Barness, G. and Steinberger, Y. (2008) Effect of desert plant ecophysiological adaptation on soil nematode communities. European Journal of Soil Biology, 44, 298-308. doi:10.1016/j.ejsobi.2008.03.005
Simpson, E.H. (1949) Measurement of diversity. Nature, 163, 668. doi:10.1038/163688a0
Kardol, P., Reynolds, W.N., Norby, R.J. and Classen, A.T. (2011) Climate change effects on soil microarthropod abun- dance and community structure. Applied Soil Ecology, 47, 37-44. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2010.11.001
Neher, D.A., Wu, J., Barbercheck, M.E. and Anas, O. (2005) Ecosystem type affects interpretation of soil nematode community measures. Applied Soil Ecology, 30, 47- 64. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2005.01.002
Anderson, J.P.E. and Domsch, K.H. (1978) Physiological method for quantitative measurement of microbial biomass in soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 10, 215-221. doi:10.1016/0038-0717(78)90099-8
Freckman, D.W., Whitford, W.G. and Steinberger, Y. (1987) Effect of irrigation on nematode population dynamics and activity in desert soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 3, 3-10. doi:10.1007/BF00260571
Berg, N. and Steinberger, Y. (2008) Role of perennial plants in determining the activity of the microbial community in the Negev Desert ecosystem. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 40, 2686-2695. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.07.019
Kandji, S.T., Ogol, C.K.P.O. and Albrecht, A. (2001) Diversity of plant-parasitic nematodes and their relationships with some soil physico-chemical characteristics in improved fallows in western Kenya. Applied Soil Ecology, 18, 143-157. doi:10.1016/S0929-1393(01)00157-3
Pen-Mouratov, S., Hu, C., Hindin, E. and Steinberger, Y. (2011) Soil microbial activity and a free-living nematode community in the playa and in the sandy biological crust of the Negev Desert. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 47, 363-375. doi:10.1007/s00374-011-0540-x
Xie, G.H. and Steinberger, Y. (2001) Temporal patterns of C and N under shrub canopy in a loessial soil desert ecosystem. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 33, 1371-1379. doi:10.1016/S0038-0717(01)00042-6
Frey, S.D., Elliott, E.T. and Paustian, K. (1999) Bacterial and fungal abundance and biomass in conventional and no-tillage agroecosystems along two climatic gradients. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 31, 573-585. doi:10.1016/S0038-0717(98)00161-8
Klich, M.A. (2002) Biogeography of Aspergillus species in soil and litter. Mycologia, 94, 21-27. doi:10.2307/3761842
Robinson, C.H., Dighton, J., Frankland, J.C. and Roberts, J.D. (1994) Fungal communities on decaying wheat-straw of different resource qualities. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 26, 1053-1058. doi:10.1016/0038-0717(94)90120-1
Chen, J. and Ferris, H. (2000) Growth and nitrogen mineralization of selected fungi and fungal-feeding nematodes on sand amended with organic matter. Plant and Soil, 218, 91-101. doi:10.1023/A:1014914827776
Duyck, P.F., Dortel, E., Tixier, P., Vinatier, F., Loubana, P.M., Chabrier, C. and Quénéhervé, P. (2012) Niche partitioning based on soil type and climate at the landscape scale in a community of plant-feeding nematodes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 44, 49-55. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.09.014
Holland, E.A. and Coleman, D.C. (1987) Litter placement effect on microbial and organic matter dynamics in an agro- ecosystem. Ecology, 68, 425-433. doi:10.2307/1939274
Neher, D.A., Weicht, T.R., Savin, M., Gorres, J.H. and Ama- dor, J.A. (1999) Grazing in a porous environment. 2. Nematode community structure. Plant and Soil, 212, 85-99. doi:10.1023/A:1004665120360
De Goede, R.G.M., Verschoor, B.C. and Georgieva, S.S. (1993) Nematode distribution, trophic structure and biomass in a primary succession of blown-out areas in a drift sand landscape. Fundamental and Applied Nematology, 16, 525-538.
Wright, C.J. and Coleman, D.C. (2002) Responses of soil microbial biomass, nematode trophic groups, N-mineralization, and litter decomposition to disturbance events in the southern Appalachians. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 34, 13-25. doi:10.1016/S0038-0717(01)00128-6
García-álvarez, A., Arias, M., Diez-Rojo, M.A. and Bello, A. (2004) Effect of agricultural management on soil ne- matode trophic structure in a Mediterranean cereal system. Applied Soil Ecology, 27, 197-210. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2004.06.002
Sternberg, M., Holzapfel, C., Tielb?rger, K., Sarah, P., Kigel, J., Lavee, H., Fleischer, A., Jeltsch, F. and K?chy, M. (2011) The use and misuse of climatic gradients for evaluating climate impact on dryland ecosystems—An example for the solution of conceptual problems. In: Blanco, J. and Kheradmand, H., Eds., Climate Change— Geophysical Foundations and Ecological Effects, InTech, Rijeka, 361-374.
Goldreich, Y. (1998) The climate of Israel—Observation, research and application. Bar-Ilan University Press, Ramat- Gan.