Response of Soil Nematode Community Structure and Function to Monocultures of Pumpkin and Melon

Abstract

It is well known that crop monoculture can induce negative effects on soil ecosystems and crop productivity. However, little is known about how vegetable monoculture affects the soil nematode community structure and its relationship with vegetable yields. In this study, the composition, abundance, metabolic footprint, and ecological indices of soil nematodes are investigated in monocultures of pumpkin and melon. The relationships between nematode community structure and yields of pumpkin and melon were analyzed by linear regression. Both monoculture soils of pumpkin and melon suppressed the relative abundance of bacterivores but increased the relative abundance of plant parasites. Pumpkin monoculture soils decreased soil nematode diversity but increased the maturity index of plant parasites. Monoculture soils of pumpkin and melon decreased the metabolic footprint of lower- and higher-level trophic groups of the soil food web, respectively. Pumpkin and melon monoculture soils increased the food web indices channel index (CI) but decreased the enrichment index (EI) and the structure index (SI). The monoculture soils of pumpkin and melon led to a more fungal-dominated decomposition pathway and degraded soil food web conditions. The abundance of bacterivores and food web indices EI and SI were positively correlated with soil nutrients and pH, while the abundance of plant parasites and CI were negatively correlated with soil nutrients and pH. Paratylenchus was negatively correlated with pumpkin and melon yields and could be the potential plant parasites threatening pumpkin and melon productions. Redundancy analysis showed that monocultures of pumpkin and melon altered the soil nematode community via soil properties; total N, total P, alkeline-N, and pH were the main driving factors.