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Abstract
The size and composition of the nematode assemblage in soil under faecal pats derived from young cattle treated or untreated with either ivermectin sustained-release boluses, or the nematophagous fungus Duddingtonia flagrans, were studied in each of three years. Soil samples taken 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after four deposition dates in 1998 showed significant temporal effects in many taxa and treatment effects in a few genera. In 2000, soil samples taken 10 weeks after deposition in July, August and September showed treatment effects in the plant-associated Tylenchus and Cephalenchus, and the bacterial-feeding Cephalobus 1 and Cephalobus 2 taxa. However, overall it was found that the nematode assemblages were similar below all three types of pat, and the assemblages varied with the season of deposition. D. flagrans, the novel biological control agent being tested against the free-living stages of nematode parasites of cattle, had no detectable impact on the size or the structure of the soil nematode communities under the faecal pats.
We are grateful to the field and laboratory staff, Abdul Wahab Mehdi, Elisabeth Wilhelmsson and Maria Moberg, who have contributed to this study. The grazing trial was financially supported by the Swedish Council for Forestry and Agricultural Research (SJFR) (Contract No: 670.092/96), who additionally provided a travel grant for GWY (Contract No: 980.0076/99). Landcare Research received travel funds from the ISAT programme (administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand). We also wish to acknowledge the statistical advice provided by Greg Arnold.