Soil nematodes of coniferous forests along gradient of air pollution (Komi Republic)

Study Extent

The dataset provides information on the number of individuals of nematode genera in soil cores collected in pine and spruce forests located in the zone of influence of palp and paper industry.

Sampling

Sites of pine and spruce forests were situated at different zones (impact, buffer and background) from the enterprise. Design of sampling was based on the regular arrangement.

Quality Control

Different taxonomic keys were used (Jairajpuri et al., 1992; Bongers, 1994; Brzeski, 1998). All specimens were identified to genera level by the specialist from the Institute of Biology of Komi Scientific Centre of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Method steps

1. Soil samples were collected from the organic and mineral soil horizons. In pine forests, eight soil cores (5 × 5 cm, 10 cm depth) were taken at each site. In spruce forests, five soil cores (5 × 5 cm, 10 cm depth) were taken at each site. Nematodes were extracted from 50 g of fresh soil using the modified Baermann method (Ruess, 1995). Extraction lasted for 48 h. Extracted nematodes were killed at 60 °C and then preserved in 4% formaldehyde.

1. Nematoda
   rank: phylum

The study was carried out in the area of JSC "Mondi SLPK", which is the largest pulp and paper industry in the European part of Russia. At the same time "Mondi SLPK" is also a source of industrial emissions into the air basin of various pollutants. It has been operating since 1964, the main pollutants of which are oxides of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, and mineral dust (Torlopova and Robakidze, 2012). According to the company's public environmental reports, the total amount of emissions in 1999 was 31, in 2006 - 20, and in 2015 - 10 thousand tons (Robakidze, Torlopova, 2018).