Parasitic variability of Meloidogyne hapla relative to soil groups and soil health conditions

Abstract

Summary Parasitic variability (PV) of Meloidogyne hapla populations exists in broad production landscapes. How PV relates to soil health as described by the soil food web (SFW) is unknown. In an experiment replicated three times, nine M. hapla populations from muck and mineral soils with degraded and disturbed SFW conditions from three regions were used to test a hypothesis that PV varies by SFW conditions. The populations were inoculated at 2000 and 4000 eggs in 300 cm3 soil per pot. While the populations’ reproductive potential varied by the SFW condition, soil group, region and/or their interactions, they clustered into high (Population 13), medium (Population 8), and low (all populations from muck and one from mineral soil) PV. Populations 8 and 13 are from degraded mineral soils and the low PV populations are from disturbed and degraded soils, indicating that the conditions where PV exists are variable within or across soil groups. Consequently, the hypothesis is not supported.