{"id":{"repo_id":"uwo","oai_identifier":"oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/35502"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uwo/oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/35502","repository":{"repo_id":"uwo","name":"Western University","base_url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"A comparison of community composition analyses for the assessment of responses to wood-ash soil amendment by free-living nematodes","abstract":"Land-use changes can have far-reaching consequences for resident communities and ecosystem functioning. Developing appropriate assessment methods to observe and quantify this change is an important application of community ecology. Here I compare four methods of community assessment for free-living soil nematodes under forest harvesting disturbance and wood ash application. Neither morphological assessment (richness, abundance, diversity) nor molecular assessment (morpho-richness using T-RFLP) was responsive to experimental treatments. Trait-based approaches (Maturity Index (MI) and Body Size Spectra (BSS)) were more sensitive to forest harvest and wood-ash amendment treatments. The efficacy of these methods was also qualitatively compared. Of all methods, the BSS were found to be the most informative and easiest to implement. Morphological assessment and the MI rely strongly on rare taxonomic expertise and T-RFLP requires considerable optimisation to be effective. The use of trait-based approaches for soil fauna is advocated as an accessible tool for community ecologists, especially those interested in taxonomically difficult groups.","abstract_html":"Land-use changes can have far-reaching consequences for resident communities and ecosystem functioning. Developing appropriate assessment methods to observe and quantify this change is an important application of community ecology. Here I compare four methods of community assessment for free-living soil nematodes under forest harvesting disturbance and wood ash application. Neither morphological assessment (richness, abundance, diversity) nor molecular assessment (morpho-richness using T-RFLP) was responsive to experimental treatments. Trait-based approaches (Maturity Index (MI) and Body Size Spectra (BSS)) were more sensitive to forest harvest and wood-ash amendment treatments. The efficacy of these methods was also qualitatively compared. Of all methods, the BSS were found to be the most informative and easiest to implement. Morphological assessment and the MI rely strongly on rare taxonomic expertise and T-RFLP requires considerable optimisation to be effective. The use of trait-based approaches for soil fauna is advocated as an accessible tool for community ecologists, especially those interested in taxonomically difficult groups.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["George, Paul B.L."],"institution":"The University of Western Ontario","degree_name":"M Sc","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Zoe Lindo"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-12-11","date_published":"2014-12-11","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:01Z","subjects":["Soil fauna","nematodes","community ecology","taxnonomy","body size","Maturity Index","T-RFLP","forestry"],"languages":["en_ca"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/35502","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Zoe Lindo"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["George, Paul B.L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-07-10T20:38:33Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-10T20:38:33Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014-12-11"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["The University of Western Ontario"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M Sc"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Soil fauna","nematodes","community ecology","taxnonomy","body size","Maturity Index","T-RFLP","forestry"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_ca"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/35502"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Land-use changes can have far-reaching consequences for resident communities and ecosystem functioning. Developing appropriate assessment methods to observe and quantify this change is an important application of community ecology. Here I compare four methods of community assessment for free-living soil nematodes under forest harvesting disturbance and wood ash application. Neither morphological assessment (richness, abundance, diversity) nor molecular assessment (morpho-richness using T-RFLP) was responsive to experimental treatments. Trait-based approaches (Maturity Index (MI) and Body Size Spectra (BSS)) were more sensitive to forest harvest and wood-ash amendment treatments. The efficacy of these methods was also qualitatively compared. Of all methods, the BSS were found to be the most informative and easiest to implement. Morphological assessment and the MI rely strongly on rare taxonomic expertise and T-RFLP requires considerable optimisation to be effective. The use of trait-based approaches for soil fauna is advocated as an accessible tool for community ecologists, especially those interested in taxonomically difficult groups."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A comparison of community composition analyses for the assessment of responses to wood-ash soil amendment by free-living nematodes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Zoe Lindo"],"dc:creator":["George, Paul B.L."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-07-10T20:38:33Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-10T20:38:33Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014-12-11"],"dc:description":["The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, \"Thesis title.\" (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456."],"dc:description.abstract":["Land-use changes can have far-reaching consequences for resident communities and ecosystem functioning. Developing appropriate assessment methods to observe and quantify this change is an important application of community ecology. Here I compare four methods of community assessment for free-living soil nematodes under forest harvesting disturbance and wood ash application. Neither morphological assessment (richness, abundance, diversity) nor molecular assessment (morpho-richness using T-RFLP) was responsive to experimental treatments. Trait-based approaches (Maturity Index (MI) and Body Size Spectra (BSS)) were more sensitive to forest harvest and wood-ash amendment treatments. The efficacy of these methods was also qualitatively compared. Of all methods, the BSS were found to be the most informative and easiest to implement. Morphological assessment and the MI rely strongly on rare taxonomic expertise and T-RFLP requires considerable optimisation to be effective. The use of trait-based approaches for soil fauna is advocated as an accessible tool for community ecologists, especially those interested in taxonomically difficult groups."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/35502"],"dc:language.iso":["en_ca"],"dc:publisher":["The University of Western Ontario"],"dc:subject":["Soil fauna","nematodes","community ecology","taxnonomy","body size","Maturity Index","T-RFLP","forestry"],"dc:title":["A comparison of community composition analyses for the assessment of responses to wood-ash soil amendment by free-living nematodes"],"dc:type":["thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_name":["M Sc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:56:01Z"}