soil nematodes and their prokaryotic prey along an elevation gradient in the mojave desert (death valley national park, california, usa)土壤线虫及其原核的猎物沿海拔梯度在莫哈韦沙漠(美国加州死亡谷国家公园).pdf

Diversity 2012, 4, 363-374; doi:10.3390/d4040363 OPEN ACCESS diversity ISSN 1424-2818 /journal/diversity Article Soil Nematodes and Their Prokaryotic Prey Along an Elevation Gradient in The Mojave Desert (Death Valley National Park, California, USA) Amy Treonis *, Kelsey Sutton, Brendan Kavanaugh, Archana Narla, Timothy McLlarky, Jasmine Felder, Cecilia O’Leary, Megan Riley, Alyxandra Pikus and Sarah Thomas Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23 173, USA * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: atreonis@; Tel.: +1-804-287-6493; Fax: +1-804-289-8233. Received: 27 August 2012; in revised form: 16 September 2012 / Accepted: 27 September2012 / Published: 15 October 2012 Abstract: We characterized soil communities in the Mojave Desert across an elevation gradient. Our goal was to test the hypothesis that as soil quality improved with increasing elevation (due to increased productivity), the diversity of soil prokaryotes and nematodes would also increase. Soil organic matter and soil moisture content increased with elevation as predicted. Soil salinity did not correlate to elevation, but was highest at a mid-gradient, alluvial site. Soil nematode density, community trophic structure, and diversity did not show patterns related to elevation. Similar results were obtained for diversity of bacteria and archaea. Relationships between soil properties, nematode communities, and prokaryotic diversity were site-spe