The Journal "Agriculture and Forestry"
Časopis "Poljoprivreda i šumarstvo"
- Since 1955 -
Year 2025, Volume 71 Issue 1
| Year : | 2025 |
| Volume : | 71 |
| Issue : | 1 |
| Authors : | Oluwatoyin FABIYI, Tesleem BELLO, Jeleel KAREEM, Abdulmujib YUSUF and Mariam AKANBI-GADA |
| Title : | NEMATODE COMMUNITY STRUCTURES DEPICT SOIL HEALTH STATUS OF KOLA NUT TREE (COLA SPP.) FORESTS OF SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA |
| Abstract : | Nematodes, the most prevalent multicellular organism in soil, hold a crucial position in the construction of the soil food web. They have been established as being excellent indicators of soil conditions which ultimately influence crop productivity. A survey was conducted to evaluate the soil nematodes assemblages of kola tree forests in Oke Geu, Litaye, Ajue and Oniparaga villages of Ondo state, Nigeria. Soil samples were taken at random from all fields. The nematodes encountered were identified to generic level. A sum of 27 nematode genera, spanning 20 families, were discovered in sampled kola fields. Eight genera of plant parasitic nematodes were recovered, Helicotylenchus and Paratylenchus were the most abundant species. In line with all previous reports of free-living nematode assemblages in Nigeria, this study established that bacterivores were the most common nematodes. No significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed across all indices of ecosystem measured except with respect to the mean plant parasitic index and PPI/MI ratios. According to the food web study, 25% of the samples were plotted in quadrat B, reflecting mature and nutrient-rich soil conditions based on their metabolic footprints, while the remaining 75% were lotted in quadrat C, indicative of stable and fertile soil. Results further emphasized the importance of utilizing the concept of nematode c-p values in interpreting food web status of different soil habitats. The findings from this research added to the body of knowledge already available on the application of nematodes as markers of soil health and furthermore provides the first study of nematode assemblages in kola tree fields in West and Sub-Saharan Africa |
| For citation : | Fabiyi, O., Bello, T., Kareem, J., Yusuf, A., Akanbi-Gada, M. (2025). Nematode community structures depict soil health status of kola nut tree (Cola spp.) forests of south-west Nigeria. Agriculture and Forestry, 71 (1): 115-128. https://doi:10.17707/AgricultForest.71.1.09 |
| Keywords : | Nematodes, kola nut, ecosystem functions, soil food web, metabolic footprint |
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