Effects of organic, low input, conventional management practices on soil nematode community under greenhouse conditions

A comparative study of organic, low input, conventional vegetable greenhouse systems was conducted to assess the effect of management practices on the soil nematode community. Bacterivores were the most dominant trophic group in all three systems with a mean proportion of over 80%, followed by omnivore-carnivores. In general, organic management practices increased the abundance of total nematodes, bacterivores, fungivores, and omnivore-carnivores in comparison with low input and conventional management practices. Though inhibitory effects of plant feeders were found in organic and low input systems, these effects were more evident in organic systems. However, small differences were observed in the composition of trophic groups and fauna analysis. All three systems displayed enriched soil conditions and structured food webs. We inferred that the bottom-up effect resulting from organic input in the soil food web may play a more important role than the disruption effects under our high input greenhouse condi...