Abstract: A microcosm experiment was conducted to study the effects of inoculating bacterial-feeding nematodes on the soil ecological functional stability under persistent Cu²⁺ stress or transient heating stress (40 ℃ for 18 h), with the shortterm decomposition of barley leaf power as the representative of soil function. In the treatments without any stress (blank control) and with Cu²⁺ stress, soil bacterialfeeding nematodes could promote soil microbial activities to some extent. On the 15th day of Cu²⁺ stress, the soil basal respiration in nematodesinoculated treatments increased significantly, and the soil functional resistance was significantly higher than that in the treatments without nematodes inoculated. However, under heating stress, inoculating bacterialfeeding nematodes had less effect on the soil basal respiration and microbial activities, and the soil functional resistance was lower than that in treatments without nematodes inoculation. It was suggested that under the two stresses, inoculating bacterial-feeding nematodes could decrease soil functional resilience.

Key words: returning cropland to forestland, oxygen isotope, rocky mountainous area, water source.