Observations on the effect of different management regimes of set-aside land on nematode community structure

Experiments to assess the impact of the different management regimes were undertaken at a number of experimental farms in England. Soil samples taken from these sites were examined for nematodes in 1989, 1992 and 1994. The data indicated that of the four treatments, natural regeneration, sown ryegrass, sown ryegrass/clover and arable cropping, none had any consistent significant effect on the nematode populations over all the three sites. Plant-parasitic nematodes increased in numbers in all treatments at all sites between 1989 and 1994 as did those of most non-plant parasitic species while predatory nematode populations tended to increase in 1992 and decrease again in 1994. The results, which allowed comparisons to be made between sites, seasons and treatments, suggest that the land returning to conventional tillage after years in set-aside would not have a markedly different plant parasitic nematode problem than those continuing in a conventional arable rotation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.