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Latitudinal and altitudinal patterns of soil nematode communities under tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) in China

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Abstract

Because nematodes are an important component of soil ecosystems, patterns of soil nematode community structure along geographic gradients have received considerable attention. However, little is known about the multidimensional spatial patterns of soil nematode communities under specific plants. Here, we examined soil nematode communities associated with roots of tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) along a latitudinal gradient spanning from 19.44° to 33.56° N in China. On Tianzhu mountain in central China (30.69° N), we also examined the distribution patterns of soil nematode communities associated with roots of T. sebifera along an altitudinal gradient spanning from 100 to 1000 m a.s.l. Through the integration of latitudinal and altitudinal gradients, our results show that latitudinal patterns of soil nematode community structure are mainly quadratic (low nematode abundance at mid-latitude), whereas altitudinal patterns are mainly linear (low nematode abundance at high altitude). Along with the differences in distribution pattern between latitudinal and altitudinal gradients, the relationship of factors to soil nematode community structure was also quite different in the two surveys. These results suggest that multidimensional and multifactorial studies are essential for revealing spatial distribution patterns, as well as the driving mechanisms, of soil nematode community structure.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jialiang Zhang and Li Xiao for field assistance. We also thank Manqiang Liu and Xiaoyun Chen for guidance in identifying soil nematodes. This study was supported by The National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1200100 JD), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31470447 and 31822007 to WH, 31700448 and 31870521 to QY).

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  1. Jia Liu and Qiang Yang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Jia Liu, Qiang Yang & Wei Huang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jia Liu

  3. Core Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Jia Liu & Wei Huang

  4. State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Qiang Yang

  5. Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

    Evan Siemann

  6. School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, Henan, China

    Jianqing Ding

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  1. Jia Liu
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JD and QY designed the experiments. JL and QY conducted the experiments. JL, WH, and ES analyzed data. JL wrote the manuscript. All authors revised and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Wei Huang or Jianqing Ding.

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Liu, J., Yang, Q., Siemann, E. et al. Latitudinal and altitudinal patterns of soil nematode communities under tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) in China. Plant Ecol 220, 965–976 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-019-00966-5

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