Annual and long-term fluctuations of the nematode fauna in a Swedish Scots pine forest soil

Samples from an old Scots pine forest at Ivantjarnsheden in the middle of Sweden were used to study predictability and patterns of variation of soil nematode communities. There were two annual sampling series (1974-75 and 1977-78) and one longterm series sampled in September ten times over a period of 25 years. The abundance and the composition of the fauna fluctuated rather considerably in both the annual and long-term series. In the annual series abundance and species composition varied in a way which can partly be explained by changes in temperature and moisture. Total nematode abundance was influenced by soil water contents as indicated by co-variations with precipitation. Although the variations in abundance and fauna composition were large no systematic changes could be detected during 25 years. The differences in faunal structure between the two annual series were greater than between the annual and the long-term series. In all series there was a distinct vertical stratification of the fauna. In the superficial moss and litter layers species belonging to Adenophorea (Plectus) dominated. In deeper layers members of Rhabditida (Acrobeloides) contributed a greater proportion of the fauna. Variations of the annual series indicate that coexistence of different nematode species is facilitated by differences in response to temperature and moisture. The abundance of fungal and bacterial feeders changed in a regular way. During the summer the proportions of fungal and bacterial feeders were almost equal, but during the wet and cold winter the proportion of bacterial feeders increased. Rapidly growing bacterial feeding species belonging to Rhabditida were common in late summer and early autumn, whereas the more slowly growing bacterial feeders belonging to Adenophorea were most abundant during the winter. Although the community fluctuated rather much the average values indicated a rather high degree of predictability and also a high similarity with nematode faunas of other pine forest soils.