The effects of prescribed fire on soil nematodes in an arid juniper savanna

Prescribed fire produced a landscape with two types of severely burned patches: charred shrub patches and charred patches with tree trunks at the center. Soil nematodes were more abundant in burned and unburned juniper (Juniperus monosperma) tree patches than in yucca-shrub patches. There were no differences in nematode abundance between burned and unburned patches during the late spring and summer samples. Nematode abundance was significantly (p i.e., by loss of tree canopies, litter accumulation, and shrub foliage, which affects soil temperatures and water redistribution.