Nematode communities in three differently managed agricultural fields

We sampled soils at three sites, located in the Pavia Province (northern Italy), under different agricultural practices, named "biological", "sewage" and "manure". The aim of this study was to evaluate the soil health using nematode communities as bioindicators. The community of the biological-managed site community had the highest taxonomic and trophic diversity and maturity. The food web was fairly good structured and this site was in better conditions in comparison with the others. The sewage-managed site had the highest enrichment condition, but the lowest nematode density. Finally, the community of the manure-managed site was the worst and the least diversified and structured, being dominated by plant feeders, especially by the genus Para-tylenchus, whose high density can be related to ecological degradation.