Nitrogen Mineralization in Soil Microcosms as Affected by Nematode Bacterial Interactions

A soil microcosm study was set up on the effect of bacterivorous nematode, Cephalobus persegnis on the release of NH₄-N and NO₃-N during 5 weeks of incubation. The release of NH₄-N was found to be significantly higher in presence of the nematode and bacteria than with bacteria alone. The % ammonium was found to be 0.17, 0.10 and 0.08 compared to 0.08, 0.08 and 0.05 with bacteria alone at 1, 3 and 5 weeks of incubation, respectively. No significant difference was found on the release of N0₃-N in presence of the nematode. The colony forming units of the bacteria reduced significantly in presence of the nematodes on all days of sampling.