Characterization of the Soil Nematode Fauna of Makerere Hill, Kampala, Uganda
Vol. 11(6), pp. 70-84, Oct-Dec 2019 DOI: 10.5897/JEN2019.0239 Article Number: F82FA2462098 ISSN 2006-9855 Copyright ©2019 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article Journal of Entomology and Nematology http://www.academicjournals.org/JEN Full Length Research Paper Characterization of the Soil Nematode Fauna of Makerere Hill, Kampala, Uganda Nzeako S. O.1*, Talwana H.2, Teye E.3, Sekanjako I.2, Nabweteme J.2 and Businge M. A.3 1Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. 2Department of Agriculture Engineering, University of Cape Coast, College of Agriculture and Natural Science, School Agriculture, Cape Coast, Ghana. 3School of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Makerere, Kampala, Uganda. Received 17 June, 2019; Accepted 13 August, 2019 Soil nematode faunal analysis is necessary to ascertain the health status of the soil ecosystem. Composite soil samples were taken at designated sites; A, B, C and D from the Makerere Hill area, Kampala and analyzed to characterize the nematode fauna status. Soil samples were collected vertically at 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm and 10-15 cm core depths with a 5 cm wide soil auger. A total of 7,900 nematodes were collected from the study out of which 1,720 (21.8%) nematodes came from 0-5 cm core depth, 5,270 (66.7) from 5-10 cm core depth and 910 (11.52) from the 10-15 cm core depth. Species diversity showed nine orders of nematodes comprising twenty four families and forty nine species.
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