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Nematode assemblages in a nature reserve with historical pollution

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Nematodes, and especially nematode communities, have a large potential as bio-indicators. The present study aims to assess the nematode community structure of several sites with different historical pollution. Long-term polluted municipal waste-, tar- and sludge- sites were compared with less disturbed annex sites. At each site heavy metal and PAHs concentrations were measured together with soil texture classes, pH and total organic matter. Identification of three hundred nematodes at each location resulted in the appointment of sixty-three genera from 32 different families of which the Cephalobidae, Belonolaimidae, Tylenchidae, Hoplolaimidae, Belonolaimidae and Plectidae were the most abundant families. The sampling sites harbour significantly different nematode communities and significant differences of life-strategy related parameters (cp-groups, MI indexes) were observed. The significant augment of the proportion of the cp 2 nematodes in historical polluted sites was especially informative. Omitting the cp 1 group from the MI (= MI2-5) better reflects putative historical pollution induced community changes. However, the current study did not reveal significant relations of historical pollution in respect to the feeding type composition and the Shannon-Wiener diversity. The observed results are critically assessed in the light of possible flaws such as sampling and analyzing limitations
Journal: BELGIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
ISSN: 0777-6276
Issue: 1
Volume: 139
Pages: 3 - 14
Publication year:2009
Accessibility:Closed