Coupling sugarcane yield to soil nematodes: Implications from different fertilization regimes and growth stages

Abstract Soil nematode communities provide important information for soil food web structure and function. Our study focused on the impacts of different fertilization regimes on sugarcane growth, while primarily considering their effects on soil nematode responses during different growth stages. The sugarcane yields were significantly increased in plots fertilized with functional biofertilizers (BIOs) compared with plots that received chemical fertilizers. Moreover, the BIO applications significantly ( P   0.01) decreased the relative abundance of plant parasite while significantly ( P   0.01) increased the relative abundance of beneficial nematodes: Cephalobus, Cervidellus, Acrobeles, Caenorhabditis in the group of bacteriores and Ditylenchus, Tylencholaimus in the group of fungivores. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) revealed that soil nematode communities were primarily separated by sampling time. A network analysis showed that BIO applications led to more simplified soil nematode community, which was possibly linked with the increased bacterivore abundance and improved soil fertility. The effects of fertilization regimes were significant ( P   0.05) and accounted for 3.35% of the total variation in soil nematode communities. Soil properties (e.g., pH, organic matter, total N, available K and available P) were influenced by the fertilization regimes and different sampling time, which significantly ( P   0.05) explained 14.53% of the soil nematode variation. In conclusion, BIOs applications might facilitate sugarcane yield by increasing the relative abundance of bacterivore while decreasing plant parasites. The changes in soil nematode communities may reflect the soil fertility and health and provide evidence for the benefits of BIO applications for sugarcane crops.