Qi Li is Professor of Soil Ecology at the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang, China, where he has been affiliated for more than a decade. Grants for his research have included funding to explore the extension mechanism of soil water and nutrient buffering capacity, as well as the effects of free air enrichment elevated O3 on soil nematodes under wheat soil with different ozone tolerance. He has published nearly 40 peer-reviewed articles and has presented research at professional meetings that include the Joint Meeting of the International Soil Ecology Society & the Society of Nematologists, as well as the International Colloquium on Soil Zoology and Ecology. Wenju Liang is Director at the Key Laboratory of Liaoning Soil Environmental Quality and Agro-product Safety in China and has been actively involved in the field for nearly 30 years. From 1992-1995 he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Entomology at Pennsylvania State University and has also been a Postdoctoral Fellow at Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. His past and present editorial board memberships include such journals as Pedosphere, PlosONE, Soils, and a guest editorship for Frontiers of Biology in China. He is also a member of the (US) Society of Nematologists and has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications. Xiaoke Zhang is Professor at the Institute of Applied Ecology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang, China. From Mar 2015–Mar 2016 he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include soil nematode community ecology, bioindication of soil nematode communities, and ecology function of soil nematode communities, and his research in the area has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Mohammad Mahamood is Assistant Professor in the School of Life and Allied Health Sciences at Glocal University, Mirzapur Pole in Saharanpur, India. He has nearly two decades of educational and research experience in the area and has published peer-reviewed articles in such journals as the International Journal of Nematology and the Journal of Nematode Morphology and Systematics.

• Part 1 Introduction1. Brief introduction to the grassland in China2. Background information for the grassland transect in north ChinaPart 2 Nematode diversity and distribution along the grassland transect3. Nematode composition along the grassland transect4. Patterns of climatic distribution of nematode trophic groups5. Nematode genera richness and diversity6. Relations of nematode assemblage composition with plant and soil characteristicsPart 3 Nematode genera and species description along the grassland transect7. Background about the nematode taxonomy8. Keys to the nematode family presented in the grassland transect9. Nematode genera and species presented in the grassland transectPart 4 Advances and perspectives in soil nematode ecology in China10. Progress and research field in soil nematode ecology11. Future challenge in soil nematode ecology in China

Qi Li is Professor of Soil Ecology at the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang, China, where he has been affiliated for more than a decade. Grants for his research have included funding to explore the extension mechanism of soil water and nutrient buffering capacity, as well as the effects of free air enrichment elevated O3 on soil nematodes under wheat soil with different ozone tolerance. He has published nearly 40 peer-reviewed articles and has presented research at professional meetings that include the Joint Meeting of the International Soil Ecology Society & the Society of Nematologists, as well as the International Colloquium on Soil Zoology and Ecology. Wenju Liang is Director at the Key Laboratory of Liaoning Soil Environmental Quality and Agro-product Safety in China and has been actively involved in the field for nearly 30 years. From 1992-1995 he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Entomology at Pennsylvania State University and has also been a Postdoctoral Fellow at Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. His past and present editorial board memberships include such journals as Pedosphere, PlosONE, Soils, and a guest editorship for Frontiers of Biology in China. He is also a member of the (US) Society of Nematologists and has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications. Xiaoke Zhang is Professor at the Institute of Applied Ecology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang, China. From Mar 2015–Mar 2016 he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include soil nematode community ecology, bioindication of soil nematode communities, and ecology function of soil nematode communities, and his research in the area has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Mohammad Mahamood is Assistant Professor in the School of Life and Allied Health Sciences at Glocal University, Mirzapur Pole in Saharanpur, India. He has nearly two decades of educational and research experience in the area and has published peer-reviewed articles in such journals as the International Journal of Nematology and the Journal of Nematode Morphology and Systematics.

• Part 1 Introduction1. Brief introduction to the grassland in China2. Background information for the grassland transect in north ChinaPart 2 Nematode diversity and distribution along the grassland transect3. Nematode composition along the grassland transect4. Patterns of climatic distribution of nematode trophic groups5. Nematode genera richness and diversity6. Relations of nematode assemblage composition with plant and soil characteristicsPart 3 Nematode genera and species description along the grassland transect7. Background about the nematode taxonomy8. Keys to the nematode family presented in the grassland transect9. Nematode genera and species presented in the grassland transectPart 4 Advances and perspectives in soil nematode ecology in China10. Progress and research field in soil nematode ecology11. Future challenge in soil nematode ecology in China

Qi Li is Professor of Soil Ecology at the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang, China, where he has been affiliated for more than a decade. Grants for his research have included funding to explore the extension mechanism of soil water and nutrient buffering capacity, as well as the effects of free air enrichment elevated O3 on soil nematodes under wheat soil with different ozone tolerance. He has published nearly 40 peer-reviewed articles and has presented research at professional meetings that include the Joint Meeting of the International Soil Ecology Society & the Society of Nematologists, as well as the International Colloquium on Soil Zoology and Ecology. Wenju Liang is Director at the Key Laboratory of Liaoning Soil Environmental Quality and Agro-product Safety in China and has been actively involved in the field for nearly 30 years. From 1992-1995 he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Entomology at Pennsylvania State University and has also been a Postdoctoral Fellow at Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. His past and present editorial board memberships include such journals as Pedosphere, PlosONE, Soils, and a guest editorship for Frontiers of Biology in China. He is also a member of the (US) Society of Nematologists and has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications. Xiaoke Zhang is Professor at the Institute of Applied Ecology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shenyang, China. From Mar 2015–Mar 2016 he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include soil nematode community ecology, bioindication of soil nematode communities, and ecology function of soil nematode communities, and his research in the area has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Mohammad Mahamood is Assistant Professor in the School of Life and Allied Health Sciences at Glocal University, Mirzapur Pole in Saharanpur, India. He has nearly two decades of educational and research experience in the area and has published peer-reviewed articles in such journals as the International Journal of Nematology and the Journal of Nematode Morphology and Systematics.

• Part 1 Introduction1. Brief introduction to the grassland in China2. Background information for the grassland transect in north ChinaPart 2 Nematode diversity and distribution along the grassland transect3. Nematode composition along the grassland transect4. Patterns of climatic distribution of nematode trophic groups5. Nematode genera richness and diversity6. Relations of nematode assemblage composition with plant and soil characteristicsPart 3 Nematode genera and species description along the grassland transect7. Background about the nematode taxonomy8. Keys to the nematode family presented in the grassland transect9. Nematode genera and species presented in the grassland transectPart 4 Advances and perspectives in soil nematode ecology in China10. Progress and research field in soil nematode ecology11. Future challenge in soil nematode ecology in China