The morphometry, biomass, and respiration of free living nematodes in the Ba Lai river, Ben Tre province, Viet Nam
Tran, T.T.; Nguyen, Y.T.M.; Lam, T.V.; Pham, H.N.; Ngo, Q.X. (2022). The morphometry, biomass, and respiration of free living nematodes in the Ba Lai river, Ben Tre province, Viet Nam. Science and Technology Development Journal: Natural Science 6(1): 1752-1765. https://dx.doi.org/10.32508/stdjns.v6i1.1082
In: Science and Technology Development Journal: Natural Science . Viet Nam National University: Ho Chi Minh City. ISSN 2588-106X, more
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| Keywords |
Nematoda [WoRMS]
Fresh water |
| Authors | | Top |
- Tran, T.T.
- Nguyen, Y.T.M.
- Lam, T.V.
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| Abstract |
Free living nematodes play an important role in benthic ecosystem processes and they have been widely used as an efficient tool to assess the environmental quality status. Although the morphometry and biomass are two important aspects to consider in ecological studies of free living nematodes, little attention has been paid to these characteristics. The paper aimed to describe the morphometry, biomass, and respiration of free living nematodes in the Ba Lai River, Ben Tre province, Vietnam. The study also evaluated the relationship between these characteristics and the salinity of the river. The results showed that nematodes communities were dominated by slender, followed by long/thin, and stout. The individuals in nematodes communities in the Ba Lai River were characterised by small sizes in both length and width, leading to the low biomass and respiration. The mean individual biomass (µgC.inds-1) ranged from 0.02 to 0.045, while the assemblage biomass (mgC.m-2) varied from 1.28 to 224.29. The mean individual respiration (nlO2.hour-1.inds-1) ranged from 0.32 to 0.67, and between 0.27 and 24.99 for the assemblage respiration (mlO2.day-1.m-2). In addition, the length, length/width ratio, the proportion of morphological groups, total biomass, total respiration, and respiration rate were significantly correlated with the salinity of the river. This was the first time that the evaluation of the respiration of free living nematode communities in Vietnam was done. Besides traditional features (e.g. abundance, biodiversity, distribution patterns), these studied characteristics, including the morphometry, biomass, and respiration of free living nematodes, could be used as a potential tool for bioindicators. |
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