Keywords: megadiverse; nematodes; soil-ecology; community; Himalayas

1. Soil nematode communities of the Lesser Himalayas: megadiverse agro-ecological development
1 Nematode Biodiversity & Genomics Research Laboratory, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, India. 2 Laboratory of
Biotechnology and Valorization of Natural Resources, Ibn Zohr University, Morocco. 3 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ibn Zohr
University, Morocco. 4 CBGP, IRD, CIRAD/INRAE/SupAgro Institute, Montpellier University, France. 5 Control and Systems
Engineering Department, University of Technology-Iraq, Iraq
Nazia Kouser1, Mohamed Aït Hamza2,3, Rawhat Un Nisa1,
Odile Fossati-Gaschignard4, Ali Asghar Shah1, James N. Furze2,5

2. Climate change
Atmospheric CO2 Temperature and
Precipitation
Plants
(Production, Diversity,
ANPP, BNPP)
Soil physical properties
(Temperature, Moisture)
Soil nutrients,
substrates
Labile soil
Carbon
Litter
Soil Microbial Community
(Biomass, Structure, Function)
Fig. 2 Jammu, Lesser Himalayas, showing sampling sites of Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur,
Reasi, Raban, Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Kishtwar
Fig. 1 Climatic change affects soil nematode communities of the Lesser Himalayas (ANPP = above ground net
primary productivity, BNPP = below ground net primary productivity) (Nisa et al. 2021)

3. Fig. 4 Extracted nematodes showing diversity in taxonomic order; (bacterial, fungal plant,
predator, omnivore) feeding habits and growth forms
Fig. 3 Surveyed sites, habitat ranges and ecosystem variability: tundra = a), b);
temperate = c), d); tropical = e), f); arid = g), h)
a b
c d
f
e
h
g
Bacterial Fungal Plant Predator Omnivore

4. Methodology
Statistical analysis
PCA, MBPLS
Soil sampling
By Quadrant method
Soil physico-chemical analysis
Total nitrogen %, soil organic matter,
organic carbon, soil pH and moisture
Processing and isolation
By Modified Cobb’s sieving and
decantation method and modified
Bearmann’s Funnel Technique
Identification
By taxonomic characters using
stereozoom microscope
Data analysis
Community analysis and
Taxonomic and functional diversity
indices
1
2
3
4
5
6
Fig. 5 Combinatorial survey, process, identification and analysis (PCA = principal component
analysis, MBPLS = multiblock partial least squares) (Aït Hamza et al. 2018)

5. Fig. 6 Dominance of the nematode genera detected
in sites (Kouser et al. 2022)
Fig. 7 PCA of nematode genera substrates across variable cropping patterns of surveyed sites, A) plant
parasitic; B) free living; C) score plot for sites; D) score plot for cropping (Kouser et al. 2022)
Fig. 8 Multiblock analysis between: A) nematode diversity indices; B) substrate origin; C) vegetation
type; D) cropping (Kouser et al. 2022)
Fig. 9 Multiblock analysis between: A) nematode communities; B) substrate origin; C) site
environmental factors; D) cropping (Kouser et al. 2022)

6. Fig. 10 Topography, cropping, nutrient availability and physicochemical soil variability effects free living and plant parasitic nematode
regulation; passive and active challenges for agroecological practices in megadiverse locations (Furze and Mayad 2022)

7. Acknowledgements
We cordially acknowledge the support of Dr. Ali Asghar Shah, Head of the Zoology Department of Baba Ghulam Shah Babshah
University, India for advice, research guidance and provision of laboratory equipment. We extend thanks to all authors for their support
and assistance and thank the communities of Jammu for allowing survey in their areas.
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References
• Aït Hamza M, Moukhli A, Ferji Z et al (2018) Diversity of plant-parasitic nematode communities associated with olive nurseries in
Morocco: origin and environmental impacts. Appl Soil Ecol 124:7–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.10.019
• Furze JN, Mayad EH (2022) Generators, harmonics and evolutionary emergence. In: Furze JN, Eslamian S, Raafat SM, Swing K (eds)
Earth systems protection and sustainability vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85829-2_1
• Kouser N, Ait Hamza M, Un Nisa R et al. (2022) Soil nematode communities in the Lesser Himalayas: diversity and structuring
factors. Tropical Ecology (submitted)
• Nisa R, Tantray AY, Kouser N et al (2021) Influence of ecological and edaphic factors on biodiversity of soil nematodes. Saudi J Biol
Sci 28:3049–3059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.02.046