Nematode Communities as Indicators of Environmental Impact of Road Design in Northern Hardwood Forests

Download or read book Nematode Communities as Indicators of Environmental Impact of Road Design in Northern Hardwood Forests written by Kristin May Williams and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Greater values of the fungivores to bacterivores ratio (FB) in the forest suggested a shift in the decomposer foodweb. The distribution of nematodes among trophic groups proved to a useful indicator of micro-topography effects, in addition to measures of ecological sucession and genus diversity. Relative abundance of plant-parasites and algivores was greatest along the roadside (grassy areas and ditch, respectively), and omnivores and predators were relatively more abundant in the forest, as well as the ditch. Canonical Correspondence Analysis supported that gravel roads were associated with a less disturbed nematode community, as well as a shift in later succession in the nematode community with distance from the road. Roadside conditions are a complex of chemical and physical soil properties, vegetation, moisture, and other abiotic road conditions.