Response of nematode-trapping fungi to organic substrates in a coastal grassland soil.

To understand why Arthrobotrys oligospora and other nematode-trapping fungi are common and sometimes abundant in the coastal grassland soils of the Bodega Marine Reserve (BMR, Sonoma County, CA), we examined how resident trapping fungi responded to the addition of eight organic substrates (lupine leaves, grass leaves, dead isopods, dead moth larvae, isopod faeces, deer faeces, shrimp shells, and powdered chitin). We were especially interested in the effects of dead isopods because isopods are abundant at BMR and because previous studies had documented strong responses of A. oligospora to other arthropods (dead moth larvae).