Nematode communities as environmental indicators

Abstract

The use of environmental indicators is a topic of current interest. It allows us to describe the con­dition of an ecosystem and the pressures that is being subject. And at the same time indicate the effectiveness of the mitigation practices. Nematodes are among the organisms that have been studied for their potential as environmental indicators.

These animals are cosmopolitan and play an impor­tant role in all ecosystems. Furthermore the nema­tode community predictably changes with the disturbances to the environment. These changes are related to indicators of ecosystems functions. There are taxa indicative of conditions in particular and indices have been developed to describe the diversity, community structure and ecological suc­cession. Models have also been created, it are indi­cators of metabolic pathways in the soil ecosystem. These indices and models are based on different survival strategies that have nematodes. Colonizers nematodes are considered enrichment opportunist and persister nematodes indicate system stabili­ty. Moreover, with the development of modern sequencing techniques are expected to achieve assessing biodiversity more efficiently, making use of nematodes in environmental monitoring programs nationally and internationally.