The functional composition of dune nematode communities is structured by both biogeographic region and the local marram grass environment
Van De Walle, R.; Massol, F.; Vandegehuchte, M.L.; Bonte, D. (2023). The functional composition of dune nematode communities is structured by both biogeographic region and the local marram grass environment. Eur. J. Soil Biol. 117: 103511. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2023.103511
In: European Journal of Soil Biology. Elsevier: Montrouge. ISSN 1164-5563; e-ISSN 1778-3615, meer
Nematodes are involved in many important ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling and plant growth. Nematode communities are thought to be structured at regional scales mainly by abiotic soil characteristics and climatic drivers and at local scales by habitat heterogeneity and biotic interactions. Blond dunes are dominated by marram grass (Calamagrostis arenaria), the key dune-forming plant species in Western Europe. Consequently, nematode food webs are mainly associated with marram grass in these coastal areas.We investigated the relative importance of regional biogeographic factors and local biotic drivers, such as the vegetation's spatial structure and the occurrence of an invasive plant species, in determining the functional diversity of belowground nematode communities inhabiting the roots of marram grass and surrounding soil in coastal dune areas.We found that nematode functional group abundances mainly differed among biogeographic regions, but that abundances could not be linked to plant-associated parameters, such as plant vitality or abundance. Additionally, the abundances of different functional groups seemed to be positively associated within both rhizosphere and bulk soil, an effect that could be the result of ecological filtering or facilitative interactions.Nematode pressure has been assumed to be an important driver of marram grass degeneration under ceasing sand dynamics. We here show that variation in nematode functional group composition is only weakly related to these local changes in plant vigour, but that large-scale patterns in nematode communities may explain regional variation in marram dynamics in coastal dunes.
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