Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

Nematodes (Nematoda) are a common representative of soil fauna, including forest soils. The aim of the research is to analyze the species and quantity of the Tylenchid nematode fauna and to determine the trophism of all obtained nematodes in the Żurawiniec reserve. The material to be analyzed was collected with a  with a cross-sectional area of ​​25 cm2. It was used to make 20 punctures to a depth of approx. 20 cm over the entire area of ​​the test surface. For further work, the samples were reduced to the same volume of 250 cm3. Nematode extraction was performed by centrifugal method with preliminary decantation (Brzeski et al., 1976). As a result of laboratory work, suspensions with nematodes with a volume of 20 cm3 were obtained. From this volume, 2 cm3 were taken each time for faunistic analysis, and on this basis, the number of nematodes in the entire sample (in 100 cm3 of soil) was determined. All selected nematodes were prepared on temporary and permanent preparations (Dobies and Zamojska, 2001). The systematic affiliation of Tylenchida nematodes to species or genus was determined, and the remaining individuals were classified into orders. 23 species or genera from the order Tylenchida were shown, and the remaining individuals were classified into orders. The most numerous were Filenchus misellus, Aphelenchoides spp. and Cephalenchus hexalineatus, which proves that the nature of forest soils in the reserve is preserved. Nematodes, parasites of plants and fungi, and bacteriophores had the largest numerical share in the studied samples. This is confirmed by the rich share of fungi and bacteria in the studied soil and the presence of herbaceous vegetation in the forest floor.