Many species of the phylum Nematoda, the nonsegmented worms, play an important role as animal or plant parasites; most species are active contributors to the decomposition cycle in soil ecosystems, but the details of that contribution are just beginning to be understood.

Agricultural nematologists, vitally involved in the study of the methodology, taxonomy, and biology of the species due to the direct relationship between crop yield and the size of plant-parasitic nematode populations, have provided much information about the nematodes. More recently, ecologists have contributed additional data on the structure and function of the total soil community, including energy flow and nutrient cycling, and have examined the critical and multifaceted role of soil nematodes in such communities. Nematodes in Soil Ecosystems provides a valuable synthesis of significant research in this area and may stimulate further important communication between the agricultural and ecological branches of nematode research.

• List of Contributors
• Foreword (J. A. Wallwork)
• Preface (D. W. Freckman)
• I. Primary Consumption
  • The Role of Nematodes as Primary Consumers (Howard Ferris)
  • Nematodes in No-Tillage Agroecosystems (B. R. Stinner and D. A. Crossley, Jr.)
  • Interactions between Phytophagous Nematodes (Larry Duncan and Howard Ferris)
• II. Decomposition
  • Role of Nematodes in Decomposition (G. W. Yeates and D. C. Coleman)
  • Parameters of the Nematode Contribution to Ecosystems (Diana W. Freckman)
  • The Role of Nematodes in Decomposition in Desert Ecosystems (W. G. Whitford, D. W. Freckman, R. F. Santos, N. Z. Elkins, and L. W. Parker)
  • The Role of Bacterivorous and Fungivorous Nematodes in Cellulose and Chitin Decomposition in the Context of a Root/Rhizosphere/Soil Conceptual Model (J. A. Trofymow and D. C. Coleman)
• III. Synthesis and Validation
  • Model Synthesis and Validation: Primary Consumers (R. McSorley, J. M. Ferris, and V. R. Ferris)
  • A Simulation Model for Life-History Strategies of Bacteriophagic Nematodes (Richard V. Anderson and Thomas B. Kirchner)
  • Soil Sampling and Processing for Detection and Quantification of Nematode Populations for Ecological Studies (P. B. Goodell)
• Discussion