Invasion of sheep dung by nematophagous fungi and soil nematodes on a hill country pasture in New Zealand

Subsamples of sheep dung placed on plots on a hill country farm in New Zealand were recovered at intervals after placement in summer (January) and autumn (April) and examined for the presence of soil, nematodes and fungi which parasitise nematodes (nematophagous fungi). At 8 d after placement in January, 35% of dung samples contained nematophagous fungi, with 72% of samples infested at 32 d. Harposporium bysmatosporum, a species similar to H. helicoides, Monacrosporium candidum and Nematoctonus spp. occurred most frequently at this time. At 1 d after placement in April, 36% of samples contained nematophagous fungi, with 63% of samples infested by 8 d. The most prevalent species at this time were the H. helicoides-like sp., M. candidum and Verticillium balanoides. Dung on all plots contained soil nematodes by 4 d after placement in January and 1 d after placement in April.