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STUDY OF THE NEMATODE COMMUNITY AS AN INDICATOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCE IN COCOA (THEOBROMA CACAO L.) AGROECOSYSTEMS

Abstract:

Nematodes are part of soil food webs as decomposers, mycophages, bacteriophages, predators and phytoparasites; when soil disturbance and contamination occur, the populations of these trophic groups are affected, which are used to evaluate the health and quality of agroecosystems. This research aimed to evaluate the presence of the nematode community as an environmental indicator in two cocoa farming systems. Samples were taken in two areas where different farming systems are managed. In this selection, a plantation with conventional and associated management is included. For each farm, ten soil subsamples were taken by the extraction method of centrifugation and flotation in sugar. The results determined the presence of five species of phytoparasitic nematodes in the established systems, among which are: Criconemoides, Helicotylenchus, Hemicycliophora, Tylenchus and Meloidogyne, a beneficial genus identified as Mononchus was found, in the chemical analysis of soil there is no evidence of interaction of any element with the identified genera, but the percentage of organic matter is closely related to the presence of predatory nematodes in the systems that have agroecological management. Among the agricultural systems studied, plantations managed as monoculture cocoa (Theobroma cacao) are associated with phytonematodes and in plantations where cocoa and banana (Musa balbisiana) are associated, the presence of the beneficial nematode (predator) Mononchus is evident. These important organisms' taxonomic and functional diversity makes them indicators of soil conservation status in tropical systems studied.