Keywords : competition, fertilisation, food quality, grassland, herbivory, nitrogen, nutrients, plant-feeding nematodes, productivity, restoration management, succession, synergism, vegetation Plant-feeding nematodes may have a considerable impact on the rate and direction of plant succession. In this thesis the interactions between plants and plant-feeding nematodes in grasslands under restoration management were studied. In these grasslands, a management of ceasing fertiliser application and annual hay-making resulted in a succession of high- to low-production plant communities. It was hypothesised that a reduced nutrient availability and the development of species-specific nematode communities under plant species will increase the sensitivity of plant species to nematode herbivory. This may result in the replacement of such plant species by plant species that are better adapted to nutrient-poor conditions. The reduction in nutrient supplies resulted in a gradual succession of plants and plant-feeding nematodes. Alterations in the species composition of the plant community, but particularly qualitative changes within each plant species after the cessation of fertiliser application affected the plant-feeding nematode succession. Indications were found that the nematode numbers were positively related to the root nitrogen concentrations. Estimations of nematode consumption in the field indicated that in local hotspots nematodes may have a considerable impact on plant productivity. In experimental studies, however, the effects of nematodes on plant productivity were in general small. Some evidence was found that plant-feeding nematodes can affect the competition between an early- and late-successional plant species in favour of the latter, but I did not find experimental evidence that plants under nutrient-poor growth conditions were more sensitive to nematode herbivory. Neither did I find clear-cut evidence for species-specific suppression of plant species by nematodes. It was suggested, therefore, that in addition to progressing nutrient stress, plant species-specific differences in tolerance to plant-feeding nematodes, rather than host specificity of nematodes, may determine the plant species replacement during reversed succession in grasslands. It is concluded that plant-feeding nematodes are potentially an important biotic factor in the succession of plant communities, but their impact on the succession in grasslands under restoration management has yet to be further elucidated. So far the results suggest that the succession of the plant-feeding nematode community is probably more affected by changes in the plant community than the other way round.
Nematode-plant interactions in grasslands under restoration management
Published 2001 in Unknown venue
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- Publication year
2001
- Venue
Unknown venue
- Publication date
Unknown publication date
- Fields of study
Biology, Environmental Science
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Semantic Scholar
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CONCEPTS
- plant-feeding nematodes
Nematodes that feed on plants and may influence plant productivity and species composition in grasslands.
Aliases: herbivorous nematodes
- plant species replacement
The substitution of one plant species by another during community succession, potentially mediated by differential tolerance to nematode herbivory.
- plant succession
The directional change in plant community composition over time, here from high- to low-production communities under restoration management.
Aliases: succession
- restoration management
Grassland management involving cessation of fertiliser application and annual hay-making to shift communities from high- to low-production states.
- reversed succession
A succession process in grasslands transitioning from high-production to low-production plant communities after nutrient supply reduction.
- root nitrogen concentrations
The amount of nitrogen present in plant roots, which was found to positively correlate with nematode numbers.
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