Aims <p>Applications of fertilizer and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are two important approaches in restoration of soil functions. However, their impacts on soil community, particularly on soil animals like soil nematodes remain unclear.</p> Methods <p>We established a greenhouse experiment to investigate individual and interactive effects of a compound organic fertilizer and an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) <i>Funneliformis mosseae</i> on the dynamics of an inoculated soil nematode community of a poplar species (<i>Populus tomentosa</i> Carr.)</p> Results <p>The abundances of soil nematodes were enhanced by the AMF inoculation but were not altered by fertilizer application. Fertilizer application increased the relative abundance of the bacterivores in the nematode community, particularly the proportion of dominant genus <i>Acrobeloides</i>. AMF inoculation increased the relative abundances of higher trophic-level omnivores and predators but reduced the proportion of the herbivorous nematodes. Such proportional changes of different nematode guilds contributed to the observed lower α-diversities of soil nematode communities in both treatments. Nematode community composition was also altered by both treatments, but the alteration was more pronounced when the treatments applied alone. The dynamics of soil nematode community were partly related to an increase in N or P content and a decrease in concentration of total flavonoids in plant roots following fertilizer application but also related to the increase in concentration of root total phenolics due to AMF inoculation.</p> Conclusions <p>This study reveals that addition of slow-release fertilizer and AMF inoculation can interact to steer soil nematode communities by influencing plant root physiochemistry, highlighting the necessity to consider such interactions in utilizing these practices to improve soil health indicated by soil nematode communities.</p>