Soil nematode populations beneath faecal pats from grazing cattle treated with the ivermectin sustained-release bolus or fed the nematophagous fungus Duddingtonia flagrans to control nematode parasites

The size and composition of the nematode assemblage in soil under faecal pats derived from young cattle treated or untreated with either ivermectin sustained-release boluses, or the nematophagous fungus Duddingtonia flagrans , were studied in each of three years. Soil samples taken 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after four deposition dates in 1998 showed significant temporal effects in many taxa and treatment effects in a few genera. In 2000, soil samples taken 10 weeks after deposition in July, August and September showed treatment effects in the plant-associated Tylenchus and Cephalenchus , and the bacterial-feeding Cephalobus 1 and Cephalobus 2 taxa. However, overall it was found that the nematode assemblages were similar below all three types of pat, and the assemblages varied with the season of deposition. D. flagrans , the novel biological control agent being tested against the free-living stages of nematode parasites of cattle, had no detectable impact on the size or the structure of the soil nematode communities under the faecal pats.