Abstract: Soil nematode communities were investigated of different niches typical in the agro-pastural ecotone of West Jilin Province.A total of 1 264 individuals of 23 genera were collected with Aphelenchus and Pratylenchus being the dominant genera.The investigation found that land-use could influence community characteristics of soil nematodes.Nematode communities of the same genera were seldom found in different niches.Agro-activities forced soil nematodes to move to deeper soil layers.Farm-yard activities increased nematode community diversity,and corn field activities decreased it.The differences in nematode functional group were very obvious between different land-uses.Corn field activities went against living of predator/omnivore nematodes.

Key words: soil nematode, agro-pastural ecotone, land-use