Abstract

Although the incorporation of organic amendments into the soil is widely researched, less attention has been given to the impact of in-situ composting of municipal green wastes (MGW), especially leaf litter, on free-living nematodes. In a four year experiment (2016–2019) of tomato cropping cycles, we tested the hypothesis that leaf litter mulch has a positive effect on mononchid predatory nematodes and influences their species composition. Two treatments were applied every year: plots were either mulched with leaf litter or left unmulched. Soil samples were collected every autumn at the end of the growing season. Active, free-living nematodes were extracted by Baermann funnel from soil samples, the density of mononchid predatory nematodes was determined, and the individuals were identified to genus or species. In the first year (2016), mulching did not affect the density of mononchids. From the second year (2017) on, their number significantly increased in mulched plots, compared to in unmulched ones. During the study period the presence of four mononchid genera: Clarkus, Mylonchulus, Prionchulus, and Iotonchus, were detected. Our hypothesis was confirmed, as the number of mononchids increased in the presence of MGW leaf litter mulch layer.

Highlights

  • Attention has been given to finding sustainable procedures and management measures in the past few decades for reducing the populations of plant-parasitic nematodes.Circularity is a key component of sustainability where resources are carefully used and reused

  • Comparing the numbers of individuals per year according to mulching treatments, the number of non-predators fluctuated strongly in unmulched plots, whereas it stagnated in mulched ones

  • In the case of predatory nematodes, low numbers of individuals without significant changes were observed in the unmulched plots every year, but in the mulched plots, their numbers increased (Figure 2)

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Summary

Introduction

Circularity is a key component of sustainability where resources are carefully used and reused. The New Circular Economy Plan of the European Commission acknowledges wastes, including organic waste, as a potential resource for this purpose [1]. The main producers of organic waste are agriculture, industry, and municipalities. It contains biodegradable waste collected from households and public and recreational areas. The organic or biodegradable fraction of municipal wastes is often referred to by different names, so for the purposes of our study we use Municipal Green Wastes (MGW), which includes compostable agricultural, urban, and household waste [2]. The percentage of MGW in total municipal solid waste is estimated from 30–40% to as much as 50–60% [3,4]

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