MANUAL DE AULAS PRÁTICAS DE NEMATOLOGIA AGRÍCOLA

Abstract

Nematodes, also known as cylindrical worms, are considered the most abundant metazoan group in the biosphere. It is estimated that there are approximately one million species, of which only about 20,000 have been identified and described. Nematodes occupy more varied habitats than any other group of metazoans, except for arthropods, and can be found in different places such as lakes, rivers, seas, soils, roots and other parts of plants, such as stems and leaves. As for eating habits, the nematodes can be classified into three groups: those of free life, zooparasites and phytoparasites or phytonematoids. Phytohematoids can attack crops of economic interest and bring serious damage affecting the world's agriculture qualitatively and quantitatively. The teaching of plant nematology is a matter of concern, since the teaching of the subject in the national undergraduate courses, mainly agronomic engineering courses, face notorious difficulties, such as the low average hours of teaching of Nematology, difficulties in the preparation of practical classes and in the updating of class content, the low infrastructure of schools and universities. It is believed that the free edition and free distribution of an e-book with didactic material and teacher support could have a great effect in improving the teaching of Nematology in both primary and higher education in agronomy and related fields. Thus, the main objective of this work was to organize a manual of practical classes in Agricultural Nematology, which will assist both high school biology teachers and students and teachers of higher education, especially those involved in agronomy courses and related areas. in view that it will present the description of the main practical methods on Nematology.