Soil faunal community transfers nutrient cycling functionality and plant-parasitic nematode suppression from different depths of a natural soil to an agricultural soil

Summary

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 facilitate