Soil nematode communities reveal the benefits of protected area in the Himalayas: A comparison of Dachigam National Park and Pir-Panjal Mountain range

IF 5 2区农林科学 Q1 SOIL SCIENCE

Applied Soil Ecology Pub Date : 2025-10-20 DOI:10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106538

Shahid Afzal , Sandip Mondal , Wasim Ahmad

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Protected areas are widely recognized for conserving aboveground biodiversity; however, their effectiveness in safeguarding soil biota remains insufficiently explored. Here we studied soil nematode communities in Dachigam National Park (protected) and the Pir Panjal Mountain Range (unprotected) in the western Himalayas to assess the influence of conservation status on belowground biodiversity. A total of 91 nematode genera were identified, with higher richness in the protected area (87 genera, including 24 unique) than in the unprotected region (67 genera, 4 unique). Taxonomic diversity was significantly higher in the protected area. Trophic analyses revealed that omnivores were more abundant in the protected ecosystem, whereas bacterivores dominated the unprotected region. Trait-based metrics indicated significantly greater functional richness, evenness, dispersion, and community-weighted body mass in protected soils. Principal component analysis (PCA) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) confirmed distinct community composition between the two regions, while redundancy analysis (RDA) identified soil moisture, organic carbon, and potassium as key environmental drivers. Overall, our results show that protected areas conserve soil nematode diversity and support resilient, functionally rich communities These findings highlight the need to explicitly integrate belowground biota into conservation frameworks and reinforce the role of protected landscapes in sustaining soil biodiversity under accelerating environmental changes in the Himalayas.

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土壤线虫群落揭示了喜马拉雅山保护区的好处：Dachigam国家公园和Pir-Panjal山脉的比较

保护区在保护地上生物多样性方面得到广泛认可；然而，它们在保护土壤生物群方面的有效性仍未得到充分的探索。研究了西喜马拉雅地区Dachigam国家公园（受保护）和Pir Panjal山脉（未受保护）土壤线虫群落，以评估保护状况对地下生物多样性的影响。共鉴定出91个线虫属，其中保护地线虫的丰富度（87属，24个独特）高于非保护地线虫的丰富度（67属，4个独特）。保护区内植物的分类多样性明显较高。营养分析表明，受保护的生态系统以杂食动物为主，而非受保护的生态系统以细菌动物为主。基于性状的指标表明，保护土壤的功能丰富度、均匀度、分散度和群落加权质量显著提高。主成分分析（PCA）和非度量多维尺度分析（NMDS）证实了两个地区之间不同的群落组成，而冗余分析（RDA）发现土壤水分、有机碳和钾是主要的环境驱动因素。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，保护区保护了土壤线虫的多样性，并支持了有弹性的、功能丰富的群落。这些发现突出了将地下生物群明确纳入保护框架的必要性，并加强了保护景观在维持喜马拉雅地区土壤生物多样性方面的作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Applied Soil Ecology 农林科学-土壤科学

CiteScore

9.70

自引率

4.20%

发文量

363

审稿时长

5.3 months

期刊介绍： Applied Soil Ecology addresses the role of soil organisms and their interactions in relation to: sustainability and productivity, nutrient cycling and other soil processes, the maintenance of soil functions, the impact of human activities on soil ecosystems and bio(techno)logical control of soil-inhabiting pests, diseases and weeds.