NEMATODES ASSOCIATED WITH PLANTS FROM NATURALLY ACIDIC WETLANDS SOIL

Four plants, Cyperus ochraceus, Eriocaulon compressum, Lythrum alatum, and Xyris jupicai, growing along the shoreline of an oligotrophic lak e in north central Florida were sampled for nematodes. The nematodes r ecovered were placed in four trophic groups: bacterivores, herbivores, omnivores, and predators. When the nematodes on all plants were consi dered, 27% were bacterivores, 23% were herbivores, 7% were omnivores, and 43% were predators. Tripyla was the dominant predator and the domi nant genus of all nematodes, and Malenchus was the dominant herbivore. Dominance was not clearly pronounced in the other trophic groups.