Nematode
communities as bioindicators of:
Soil/sediment ecological status and health
Soil/sediment biodiversity
Grassland degradation
Sustainable farming
​
Nematodes and their biodiversity are excellent indicators for monitoring environmental change and its effects on soils and freshwater sediments.
​
​
Who can we serve and how
CONVENTIONAL FARMING SECTOR
Our services enable us to assess land productivity, performance or degradation
Nematode assemblages in agricultural soil are affected by anthropogenic disturbances such as organic and inorganic fertilisation, the application of herbicides and pesticides, tillage, and crop rotation (Treonis et al, 2010; Thiele Bruhn et al, 2012; Zhang et al, 2017).
Environmental disturbance causes (a) decrease in the number of nematode species at the top of the soil nematode food chain, and (b) dominance of colonising species (Odum, 1985).
The presence of omnivorous nematodes is highly important in agricultural soils, as they directly participate in nutrient cycling (Yeates and Wardle, 1996).
Plant-feeding nematodes were found to be the major consumers in grasslands, responsible for 46 to 67% of the total plant consumption (Scott et al, 1979).
Soil that sustained higher levels of bacterial feeding nematodes also experienced higher rates of nitrogen mineralisation (Ferris and Matute, 2003).
ORGANIC FARMING SECTOR AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCERS
With our expertise and services we can help you
To assess and maintain soil biodiversity and fertility
To assess soil health and the ecological status of your farm
To perform environmental risk assessment to any type of intervention in you may wish to make
To confirm the integrity of your organic farming and sustainable food production practice.
INDUSTRY
In industry, we can assist chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, construction, food producing and drinks manufacturing, and other sectors that generate and discharge waste into the natural environment. We can provide regular assessments of the environmental status of various sites and habitats, for legislative ‘polluter pays principle’ and monitoring purposes.
HOUSING ESTATES DEVELOPERS AND BUILDING CONTRACTORS
We can assess the environmental soil health and quality of building sites and confirm their good ecological status.
BioEcoServe
provides
Morphological or molecular analysis of nematode communities in soils (agricultural, forest, grassland) and sediments to assess their quality and health.
​
The analysis of nematode abundance and diversity and calculation of ecological indices to assess productivity or anthropogenic stress of soil/sediment ecosystem.
​
Our sustainable approach for environmental health assessment provides a holistic and complete picture of the soil/sediment ecosystem, something that chemical measurements con not do.