Effects of Cover Crops on Nematode Communities in Spinach Production.

Agricultural soil environments contain different types of nematodes in all trophic levels that aid in balancing the soil food web. Beneficial free-living nematodes (FLNs) consist of bacterivores, fungivores, predators, and omnivores that help in the mineralization of the soil and the top-down control of harmful plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs). Annually, USD 125 billion in worldwide crop losses are caused by PPNs, making them a plant pathogen of great concern for growers.

First Report of Mesocriconema xenoplax from Apricots (Prunus armeniaca) in Ontario, Canada.

Plant-parasitic nematodes have been causing more economic losses and related damages to fruit crops in the Province of Ontario than previous estimates. We have been conducting surveys since 2019 for the presence of plant-parasitic nematodes in different orchards in the Niagara region. Collected soil samples were extracted for nematodes following Jenkins (1964).