Dispersal of microbes. Nematodes help distribute bacteria and fungi through the soil and along roots by carrying live and dormant microbes on their surfaces and in their digestive systems. Nematodes are food for higher level predators, including predatory nematodes, soil microarthropods, and soil insects. They are also parasitized by bacteria and fungi. Disease suppression and development.
Some nematodes cause disease.
These may be potential biocontrol agents. Nematodes are concentrated near their prey groups. Predatory nematodes are more likely to be abundant in soils with high numbers of nematodes. Because of their size, nematodes tend to be more common in coarser-textured soils. Grasslands may contain 50 to 500 nematodes, and forest soils generally hold several hundred per teaspoon.