Pedosphere 14(3): 387--393, 2004
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2004 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Impact of soil fumigation practices on soil nematodes and microbial biomass |
CAO Zhi-Ping , YU Yong-Li, CHEN Guo-Kang and R. DAWSON |
| Department of Ecology and Ecological Engineering, College of Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094 (China). E-mail: zhipingc@cau.edu.cn |
| ABSTRACT |
| This study was designed to understand the impact of methyl bromide (MB) (CH3Br) and its alternatives on both free-living and root-knot nematodes in the soil. A randomized complete block experiment with six treatments and 4 replicates (each replicate in a separate greenhouse) was established in Qingzhou, Shandong Province, China. In addition to MB and untreated control (CK) treatments there were four alternative soil fumigation practices including MB+virtually impermeable films (VIF), metam sodium (MS), MS+VIF and soil solarization combined with selected biological control agents (SS+BCA). Two tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.) cultivars, cv. Maofen-802 from the Xian Institute of Vegetable Science, China, and cv. AF179 Brillante from the Israeli Hazera Quality Seeds, were selected as test crops. The results indicated that Rhabditidae was the most dominant population with percentage abundance as high as 85% of the total number of identified free-living nematodes, followed by that of Cephalobidae. Methyl bromide and its alternatives except for the non-chemical SS+BCA treatment controlled the target pest, root-knot nematodes. Also, the impact of the three chemical alternatives on free-living nematode number and functional group abundance was similar to the impact associated with a typical methyl bromide application. Chemical fumigation practices, especially that with MB, significantly reduced the number of nematodes in the soil and simultaneously significantly reduced the number of nematode genera thereby reducing nematode diversity. All the four soil chemical fumigation activities decreased soil microbial biomass and had an obvious initial impact on microorganism biomass. Furthermore, both plant-parasitic and fungivore nematodes were positively correlated with soil microbial biomass. |
| Key Words: methyl bromide, microbial biomass, nematode, soil fumigation |
| Citation: Cao, Z. P., Yu, Y. L., Chen, G. K. and Dawson, R. 2004. Impact of soil fumigation practices on soil nematodes and microbial biomass. Pedosphere. 14(3): 387-393. |
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