EFFECT OF BAHIAGRASS (<I>PASPALUM NOTATUM</I> FLUEGGE) ON NEMATODE POPULATIONS IN THE FIELD AND THEIR BEHAVIOR UNDER GREENHOUSE AND LABORATORY CONDITIONS
Tsigbey, F. K., J. R. Rich, J. J. Marois, and D. L. Wright. 2009. Effect of bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Fluegge) on nematode populations in the field and their behavior under greenhouse and laboratory conditions. Nematropica 39:111-119. Field experiments were established to study the impact of cotton-bahiagrass-bahiagrass-peanut (CBBP) and peanut-cotton-cotton-peanut (PCCP) rotations on plant-parasitic nematode populations during 2003 to 2006 in north Florida, USA. The CBBP rotation reduced soil populations of Meloidogyne incognita, Rotylenchulus reniformis, and Helicotylenchus dihystera, but not Mesocriconema ornatum compared to the PCCP rotation in three of the four test years. Greenhouse pot experiments that consisted of amending field soil with bahiagrass root and leaf pieces reduced galling of tomato and reproduction of Meloidogyne arenaria when compared to non-amended soils. Under laboratory conditions, juveniles of M. arenaria actively moved to root zones of bahiagrass and to root pieces grown in water agar, but no feeding or root penetration was observed.
