Responses of free-living and plant-parasitic nematodes to sugarcane crop in two soils

Abstract

Nematodes play different ecological roles in soil, interfering with feed rates by regulating microbiota and the development of plant diseases. The natural characteristics of an environment as well as the agricultural process alter the distribution of these organisms. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of continuous sugarcane crop time on free-living and plant-parasitic nematodes in soils with different textures. Soil samples were collected from  areas of native vegetation and agricultural plots cropped with sugarcane in two municipalities in the state of Parana, Brazil (soil with medium-textured and clay-textured), with subsequent extraction and identification of trophic groups and genus of plant-parasitic nematodes. The nematodes structure was most severely affected by sugarcane crop time, with an increase in the plant-parasitic nematodes abundance over time. Agricultural plots were dominated by Pratylenchus sp. and Helicotylenchus sp., and communities in areas of native vegetation were dominated by free-living nematodes, especially bacterial-feeding, with an incidence of carnivorous/omnivorous nematodes and Mesocriconema sp.