What does it measure?
Determines the number of each family of free-living nematodes in the soil and following the results a recommendation will be made on how healthy the soil is.
Relevance to Soil Health?
- A healthy soil is considered to be a stable soil, rich in biological diversity, with high levels of internal cycling of nutrients and with a resilience to stress factors
- Nematodes are present in all soil environments that provide a supply of organic carbon
- Soil nematodes occupy key positions in the soil food web, and can be placed in at least five trophic (feeding) or functional groups
- They feed on most soil organisms (fungi, bacteria, nematodes, mites, unicellular algae and lichen) and are also a food source for some of these organisms
- The relationship and population size that the “FREE LIVING” nematodes have with the “PATHOGENIC” nematodes provides an index of Soil Health
More info at www.nemlab.co.za