Soil physical properties affect nematode counts in the Barnes soil series

Abstract Nematodes are important in soil food webs and are being considered in soil health frameworks. We evaluated nematode counts as a potentially rapid measure of land use effects on soil biology in a benchmark Mollisol. We assessed pedons (0–120 cm) from conventional, no‐till, and grassland fields in eastern North Dakota in October 2022. Although bulk density was 25% higher at 5–10 cm and aggregate stability was 36% lower (0–5 and 5–10 cm) in conventional versus grassland fields, land use did not affect nematode counts above 20 cm (288–2498 100 g −1 dry soil). Land use did mitigate nematode responses to soil properties. Nematodes more than doubled with increasing aggregate stability in no‐till and grassland samples and were reduced by a third with increasing bulk density in grassland samples. Although nematode counts per se are not useful for assessing land use effects, soil properties can be used to predict nematode numbers in the series.