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Journal article
Soil faunal community transfers nutrient cycling functionality and plant-parasitic nematode suppression from different depths of a natural soil to an agricultural soil
Applied Soil Ecology, Vol.207, 105933
2025
Abstract
Soil biota play a pivotal role in shaping various ecosystem functions, ultimately contributing to soil health and human well-being. In this study, soil samples from four depths were collected from a remnant vegetation site and used as donor soil to assess whether soil fauna could transfer ecosystem functions, such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling and nematode pest suppression, to a homogenised agricultural soil (receptive soil) in three incubation experiments. Ammonium, nitrate and plant-available phosphorus concentrations were measured as proxies for nutrient cycling, while the abundance of the two key plant-parasitic nematodes, Pratylenchus neglectus and Merlinius brevidens, served as proxies for plant-parasitic nematode suppression. Results revealed that soil fauna facilitated the transfer of up to 26 % more nitrogen from donor to receptive soil, but phosphorus levels remained unaffected. Nematode suppression effects were depth-specific and species-specific. The organic layer showed the highest nematode suppression, but depth 0–10 cm yielded the highest plant growth, suggesting physicochemical constraints in the organic layer. Nematode-based indices shifted towards a more mature and structured soil food web in the receptive soil. This study demonstrates the significant role of soil fauna in performing ecosystem functions particularly N cycling and plant-parasitic nematode suppression. These findings highlight the potential for using targeted soil amendments to enhance soil health, ultimately contributing to sustainable plant growth.
Details
- Title
- Soil faunal community transfers nutrient cycling functionality and plant-parasitic nematode suppression from different depths of a natural soil to an agricultural soil
- Authors/Creators
- Reza GhaderiHelen L. HaydenElena Colombi - Curtin UniversityRamesha H JayaramaiahHang-Wei HuJi-Zheng He
- Publication Details
- Applied Soil Ecology, Vol.207, 105933
- Publisher
- Elsevier B.V.
- Number of pages
- 12
- Grant note
- Soil Science Challenge project of the Australian Government: 4-H4SSYXD Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)Australian Grain Technologies (AGT)
We wish to appreciate the financial support of the present work by Soil Science Challenge project (Grant ID 4-H4SSYXD) of the Australian Government, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) . We also acknowledge Australian Grain Technologies (AGT) for providing seeds of wheat (var. Calibre) which were used for the exper-iments of our study. We kindly thank Malory and Chris Weston who own the property at Broomfield (and their help for obtaining information on site and soil characteristics) and Andrew Donnan at Woomelang for their support, cooperation, and allowing access to their property for soil collection. The authors are also grateful to Mr. Dante Romeo for their assistance during the field trip to Woomelang.
- Identifiers
- 991005741586007891
- Copyright
- © 2025 The Authors.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Sustainable Farming Systems
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.45 Soil Science
- 3.45.1113 Soil Fauna Dynamics
- Web Of Science research areas
- Soil Science
- ESI research areas
- Agricultural Sciences