Long-term fertilization and cultivation impacts on nematode abundance and community structure in tall fescue turfgrass.

Impacts of long-term fertilization and cultivation were evaluated on nematode communities associated with tall fescue turfgrass following 11 years of treatment applications. Fertilizer treatments of biosolid, synthetic, and plant-based fertilizers and cultivation treatments of 0×, 1×, and 2× aerification passes were applied to randomized and replicated tall fescue plots at the University of Maryland Paint Branch Turfgrass facility in College Park, Maryland. Free-living and plant-parasitic nematodes were identified, enumerated, and categorized into functional groups. Nematode count data were compared using generalized linear mixed modeling with negative binomial distribution and two-way ANOVA was used to compare nematode ecological indices. Biosolid treatments resulted in lower omnivore-predator densities than plant-based fertilizer treatments ( p  ≤ .001) and significantly greater Hoplolaimus densities than plant-based fertilizer plots ( p  ≤ .05). Synthetic fertilizer applications resulted in the greatest Eucephalobus ( p  ≤ .05) and total bacterivore densities ( p  ≤ .001) of all fertilizer treatments. Plant-based fertilizer-treated plots had the largest Maturity Index cp 2-5 and Structure Index ( p  ≤ .05). Cultivation of 1× resulted in fewer total bacterivore densities than 2× ( p  ≤ .01) while omnivore-predator densities were greater in 1× than 0× ( p  ≤ .001). Plant health, as measured by NDVI, was lowest in biosolid-treated turfgrass ( p  ≤ .05). These findings suggest that long-term turfgrass management practices can have variable impacts on nematode abundance and community structure in tall fescue and provide insights into ecological impacts of turfgrass management practices.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
(© 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.)