Impact of remaining roots on soil nematode communities in an aboveground plant functional group removal experiment

Aims Plant functional group (PFG) removal experiments are recognized as an effective way to explore the role of plant diversity and species traits in ecosystem functioning. To minimize soil physical disturbance in plant removal experiments, aboveground parts of targeted plant species are usually cut off without removing their roots from the soil. However, the potential effects of their remaining roots (partially as root litter) on soil nematode communities are still unclear. Methods We used a three-year PFG removal experiment in a Qinghai-Tibet alpine meadow and set up root-ingrowth mesh bags for one year where removal target plants’ roots existed only outside the mesh bags. Results We found that nematode communities outside the mesh bags had higher nematode channel ratio and lower channel index values, indicating that the root litter outside the mesh bags increased energy flux to bacterial-feeding nematodes over fungal-feeding nematodes. The relative abundance of plant-feeding nematodes was higher inside than outside the mesh bags, probably because of a higher ratio of living roots inside the mesh bags. Non-metric multidimensional scaling showed that the structure of nematode communities inside and outside of mesh bags was generally differentiated except for the no-removal control treatment. Conclusions We conclude that the remaining roots outside mesh bags could modify the relative abundance ratio of different nematode guilds and soil nematode community structures, suggesting legacy effects of target plants’ roots in PFG removal experiments.