Research Article Plant Parasitic Nematode Abundance and Diversity in Potato (Solanum tuberosum) Cultivation at Various Altitudes in Wonosobo and Banjarnegara Khairunnisa Lubis 1) , Siwi Indarti 2) *, & Nugroho Susetya Putra 2) 1) Tanjungbalai Asahan Agricultural Quarantine Station Jln. Perintis Kemerdekaan KM. 9 Simpang Empat – Asahan, North Sumatra 22333 Indonesia 2) Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada Jln. Flora No. 1, Bulaksumur, Sleman, Yogyakarta 55281 Indonesia *Corresponding author. E-mail: siwi.indarti@ugm.ac.id ABSTRACT Plant-parasitic nematodes are one of the causes of yield loss in potato cultivation. Currently, information on the diversity, abundance, and dominance of potato parasitic nematode genera is not available. This research aimed to determine the pattern of distribution, abundance, and dominance of parasitic nematode genera on potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) in Wonosobo and Banjarnegara Districts at various altitudes i.e.: 1,250–1,500; 1,500– 1,750; 1,750–2,000; and 2,000–2,250 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.). Soil rhizosphere and root samples were collected, and nematodes were extracted using the Whitehead tray modification technique. The nematodes were adjusted with Formalin Acetic acid Alchohol (FAA), mounted, and identified based on morphological characters. The diversity index was determined to distinguish plant-parasitic nematode diversity. Six genera of potato plant- parasitic nematodes were found, namely Meloidogyne, Hirschmanniella, Globodera, Criconemoides, Helicotylenchus, and Xiphinema. The highest population of plant-parasitic nematodes was found at 1,250–1,500 m.a.s.l. from both root and soil samples. The nematode populations were 56.67 nematodes/5 g root and 103.33 nematodes/100 g of soil. The abundance of parasitic nematodes did not differ significantly among different altitudes in both districts. The dominant parasitic nematodes in soil samples were Meloidogyne with 16.78%, while Globodera was 13.98%. The Shannon-Wiener index implied that the diversity of parasitic nematodes of potato plants and stability of community in Wonosobo and Banjarnegara Districts were categorized as low. Keywords: abundance; diversity; dominance; parasitic nematodes; potato plants INTRODUCTION Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important horticultural commodity in Indonesia. Plant parasitic nematodes are major inhibiting factors for potato cultivation because of their ability to cause significant yield loss in both tropical or sub-tropical regions. Yield loss due to plant parasitic nematodes can reach 8.8% –14.6% resulting in 100–157 billion US dollar loss globally (Nicol et al., 2011). Important parasitic nematodes in potato plants include Globodera sp., Meloidogyne spp., Nacobbus aberrans, Ditylenchus spp., Pratylenchus spp., Belonolaimus longicaudatus, Xiphinema spp., Rotylenchus spp., Radopulus similis, Longidorus spp., Paratrichodorus spp., Trichodorus spp., and Paratylenchus spp. which are even able to damage allelopathic plants (Luc et al., 1995). Nematodes disrupt root function by hindering transport of nutrients to plant part above the ground (Dropkin, 1991). The development of nematodes is influenced by several environmental factors such as temperature, soil moisture, soil pH, organic matter content, host performance, plant age, and soil particle size. Based on research by Wulandari and Indarti (2020), temperature has positive correlation with D. dipsaci nematode populations in bulb and soil. Temperature affect the development of nematodes such as egg hatching, reproduction, movement and growth rate. Jurnal Perlindungan Tanaman Indonesia, Vol. 25, No. 2, 2021: 99–105 DOI: 10.22146/jpti.26018 Available online at http://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/jpti ISSN 1410-1637 (print), ISSN 2548-4788 (online) Received June 16, 2017; revised July 17, 2017; accepted July 7, 2021 Copyright ©2021, Jurnal Perlindungan Tanaman Indonesia (CC BY-SA 4.0)