Nl. Bell et Rn. Watson, Optimising the Whitehead and Hemming tray method to extract plant parasitic and other nematodes from two soils under pasture, NEMATOLOGY, 3, 2001, pp. 179-185
Three variations of the Whitehead and Hemming tray method for extracting ve
rmiform nematodes from soil samples, and the decant and sieve method, were
compared using a silt loam and a clay loam soil under long-term pasture. Co
mparisons showed that greatest nematode recovery was achieved when 50 g of
soil was placed in a tray lined with two-ply paper tissue and extracted for
48 h with 500 ml water. Recovery of the total nematode fauna and of plant
parasitic nematodes from the tray extract was significantly better (P less
than or equal to 0.001) after allowing nematodes to sediment in a 11 straig
ht-sided beaker than In a 15 cm diam. filter funnel. After 48 h extraction
on trays, this method recovered 77% of the total numbers of all nematodes (
72.5% of the plant parasites) extracted over 144 h with daily collection fr
om the trays. The optimum extraction duration was different for Paratylench
us nanus compared to Pratylenchus sp., apparently related to differences in
their mode of parasitism, with root-dwelling stages of Pratylenchus being
recovered at longer times. There was a significant treatment x soil interac
tion for Meloidogyne Mr sp., recovery of which was improved by beaker sedim
entation in silt loam but not clay loam soil, compared to funnel sedimentat
ion. A significant treatment x soil interaction was also observed for H. tr
ifolii, the beaker method being better at recovering this nematode in clay
loam than silt loam soil, compared to the decant and sieve method.