Changes in soil nematode community structure following warming and drought manipulations in a grassland mesocosm experiment

The response of soil nematodes to simulated in spring, summer and autumn periods of warming and drought were studied in a grassland mesocosm experiment. The abundance, diversity and some community parameters of nematodes were analysed at different times after the end of the extreme events – 170 days after the spring treatment, 90 days after the summer treatment and 22 days after the autumn treatment. Among studied parameters the abundance of nematode trophic groups, taxonomic richness and diversity were found to be sensitive to changes in the soil system caused by extremes. Our results showed that warming and drought did not cause predictable shifts in nematode communities. Moreover the extremes’ after-effect was not unidirectional with time. The periods of warming and drought induced a positive or negative long lasting influence on nematodes, and the outcome seems to depend on season, the nematode trophic group or even the nematode taxon.