Soil and root samples were collected monthly for twelve consecutive months from two adjacent 1/4-acre plots in a Louisiana pine forest near Urania, Louisiana. One of the plots had been burned annually since 1915 and the other, an adjacent control plot, had remained unburned since 1912. Nematoades recovered from the soil and root samples were mounted on permanent slides for identification and enumeration. The populations of Paratylenchus, Helicotylenchus and Hemicycliophora were significantly higher on the burned plot, with Paratylenchus, and Helicotyhlenchus found almost exclusively on the burned side. Xiphinema and Longidorus were recovered in such small numbers that no significant statistical analysis was possible. Five significant correlations were found between numbers of parasitic nematodes recovered and the soil factors monitored: Paratylenchus with pH, Helicotylenchus with moisture, Hemicycliophora with organic matter and total parasitic nematodes with particle density and pH. It is apparent from the results of this study that prolonged prescribed burning significantly alters the populations of plant-parasitic nematodes.