The effects of plant resource inputs on the energy flux of soil nematodes are affected by climate and plant resource type

Highlights

• We experimentally reduced litter and root inputs in forests at different latitudes.

• Litter reduction at high and mid latitudes and root removal at low latitudes reduced nematode richness but did not alter nematode abundance.

• The effects of plant resource inputs on nematode energy flux are affected by climate and plant resource type.

Abstract

The relative abundance of different components of the soil food web can vary tremendously in response to plant resource inputs. However, little is known about the mechanisms that plant resource regulate the energy fluxes and soil community composition. Here, we experimentally reduced litter and root inputs for two years in China at low-, mid-, and high-latitude forests to explore the effects of plant-derived resource inputs on the nematode energy flux and community composition. Litter reduction at high and mid latitudes and root removal at low latitudes reduced nematode richness but did not alter nematode abundance. Besides, Litter reduction reduced energy fluxes of bacterial-feeding nematodes at mid latitudes and energy fluxes of plant-feeding, bacterial-feeding and omnivorous-predatory nematodes at low latitudes, thus reducing the energy fluxes of total nematodes in mid- and low-latitude forests. By contrast, root removal reduced energy fluxes and relative energy flux of plant-feeding nematodes in high- and low-latitude forests. In most cases, nematode diversity in different trophic groups increased with increasing energy flux to nematodes. Taken together, our results suggest that the effects of plant resource inputs on nematode energy flux are affected by climate and plant resource type, which improves our understanding of plant-soil interactions.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Soil nematodes / Leaf litter / Root / Energy flux / Diversity / Trophic groups / Climate / Plant-soil interactions / Soil food web

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Acknowledgments

This study was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31971534) and the Innovation Scientists and Technicians Troop Construction Projects of Henan Province. We thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript. We are also very grateful for the support from the forest sites.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. All authors have seen and agreed to the submitted version of the manuscript.

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