ABSTRACT
A study was performed to evaluate the effects of wastewater irrigation on nematode communities of agricultural fields near the Yamuna in Faridabad, Haryana. Soil samples were collected from a depth of 0–10 cm using a hand spade. The nematodes were identified and assigned to various guilds according to standard procedures. Statistical analysis was performed using MS Excel and SPSS. The total concentration of heavy metals like zinc, lead and copper as well as total organic carbon was determined and correlated with various parameters for nematological assessment. From the samples, a total of 35 genera belonging to 8 orders and 21 families were recorded. In terms of abundance, order Tylenchida was most abundant, while in terms of the number of genera, order Rhabditida was most frequently found. Diversity and soil food web conditions at different distances were calculated by using the following indices: Shannon’s diversity index (H′, generic level), maturity index (MI), trophic diversity index (TDI), channel index (CI), enrichment index (EI) and structure index (SI). The total number of nematodes correlated positively (p < 0.05) with heavy metal concentration. Other indices also showed significant correlations with different parameters in the study.
