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Harvard Forest Data Archive

HF274

Taxonomy and Biogeography of Nematode Communities at Harvard Forest 2014

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Data

Overview

  • Lead: Thomas Powers
  • Investigators: Julianne Matczyszyn
  • Contact: Information Manager
  • Start date: 2014
  • End date: 2014
  • Status: complete
  • Location: Prospect Hill Tract (Harvard Forest), Simes Tract (Harvard Forest), Tom Swamp Tract (Harvard Forest)
  • Latitude: +42.47 to +42.55 degrees
  • Longitude: -72.23 to -72.16 degrees
  • Elevation: 200 to 420 meter
  • Datum: WGS84
  • Taxa: Criconematina (ring nematode)
  • Release date: 2023
  • Language: English
  • EML file: knb-lter-hfr.274.4
  • DOI: digital object identifier
  • EDI: data package
  • DataONE: data package
  • Related links:
  • Study type: short-term measurement
  • Research topic: biodiversity studies
  • LTER core area: disturbance patterns
  • Keywords: biodiversity, biogeography, distribution, nematodes, parasitism, taxonomy
  • Abstract:

    Our overall goal is to describe and map nematode biodiversity in North America. Specifically we will concentrate on Criconematina, a suborder of plant parasitic, soil-dwelling nematodes. Criconematina, commonly referred to as ring-nematodes, are distributed globally associated with a wide range of hosts and habitats. In native grasslands and forests, they may constitute as much as 30% of the below-ground nematode community. Their abundance often approaches 500 individuals per 100cc of soil with as many as a dozen species recorded from a single habitat. Host associations may be broad, covering entire plant families, or they may specialize in feeding on a few closely related plant species. Several are known agronomic pest species, but the vast majority is known only from native habitats and responds negatively to soil disturbance. Due to their sensitivity to disturbance and associations with a range of plant species, some ecologists have suggested that ring nematodes could serve as a below-ground biological indicator of habitat quality. Before this application is possible taxonomic boundaries need to be evaluated and a reference database needs to be established.

  • Methods:

    Our approach to constructing the nematode reference database is based on sampling soil from plant communities characteristic of major ecoregions of North America as defined by Olson et al., (2001). Within each ecoregion sampling sites will be selected to reflect areas of high plant diversity, endemicity, or varying levels of disturbance. At each sampling site a single 40x40m plot will be established with the corners marked by GPS coordinates. At a predetermined point along one border, the plot will be entered and traversed by the collector with an Oakfield tube soil corer of 2cm diameter. Every 6 meters a core will be extracted to a depth of approximately 20 cm, until 500cc of soil is accumulated. The soil is then placed into a plastic collection bag and stored for analysis. Images of the study site and notes on the plant community will be recorded. Each site will be sampled at least once, preferably in the spring or fall depending on root growth. In some cases, nematode analysis may suggest a second sampling of the site will be productive. The discovery of new species or the observation of unusual nematode assemblages or stages could initiate a second sampling session.

    In the laboratory nematodes will be isolated from the soil sample by a process of floatation and sieving followed by sugar centrifugation. Members of the suborder Criconematina will be measured, photographed and then stored for PCR/DNA sequencing analysis. A critical component of this analysis is the linkage of nematode morphology from individual specimens with their corresponding DNA haplotype. All images and DNA sequences will be deposited in public access data repositories.

  • Organization: Harvard Forest. 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. Phone (978) 724-3302. Fax (978) 724-3595.

  • Project: The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. (ROR).

  • Funding: National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.

  • Use: This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

  • License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0)

  • Citation: Powers T. 2023. Taxonomy and Biogeography of Nematode Communities at Harvard Forest 2014. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF274 (v.4). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/efe8b254dba47aa433a4a4264845c17a.

Detailed Metadata

hf274-01: Harvard Forest samples

  1. num: sample number
  2. sample: extended sample number
  3. sample.type: type of sample
  4. collector: initials of person who collected sample
  5. date.rec: date received
  6. country: country
  7. state: state
  8. county: county
  9. date.collection: date of collection
  10. location: location name
  11. plant.comm.host: plant community type and host
  12. sample.cond.meth: sample condition and method
  13. wwf.ecocode: WWF ecocode
  14. ecoregion: ecoregion name
  15. datum: datum
  16. gps: GPS type
  17. lat1: latitude of corner 1 (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  18. long1: longitude of corner 1 (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  19. elev1: elevation of corner 1 (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
  20. lat2: latitude of corner 2 (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  21. long2: longitude of corner 2 (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  22. elev2: elevation of corner 2 (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
  23. lat3: latitude of corner 3 (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  24. long3: longitude of corner 3 (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  25. elev3: elevation of corner 3 (unit: meter / missing value: NA)
  26. lat4: latitude of corner 4 (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  27. long4: longitude of corner 4 (unit: degree / missing value: NA)
  28. elev4: elevation of corner 4 (unit: meter / missing value: NA)

hf274-02: Harvard Forest individual nematode Criconematid specimens

  1. nid: unique individual specimen identifier
  2. name: initials of person who identified the specimen
  3. sample: unique label for each soil sample
  4. locality: location
  5. genus: original genus id
  6. species: original species id
  7. gender.stage: original gender or stage
  8. morphometric1: all specimens are examined microscopically with morphological characters and measurements recorded by high resolution (400 and 1000 X magnification) light microscopy using differential interference contrast optics (DIC)
  9. image.voucher: digital image voucher
  10. dna.voucher: DNA template voucher number
  11. molecular.id: molecular identification based on a phylogenetic analysis of COI and 18S DNA
    • Y: NID has been identified molecularly