Abstract
Bananas and plantains are major commodity/food crops that represent an important habitat for earthworms, although so far, no review is available on earthworm communities associated with banana/plantain crops worldwide. The Vale do Ribeira region is among the largest banana producing areas in Brazil, but little is known of the earthworms living there. Hence, the present study assessed earthworm populations and species in three banana plantations and adjacent Atlantic forest fragments along the Ribeira de Iguape River using standard (hand sorting) methodologies. Furthermore, we review earthworm populations reported in banana/plantain plantations worldwide. Only two species (Pontoscolex corethrurus, Amynthas gracilis) belonging to two families (Rhinodrilidae, Megascolecidae) were found in the Ribeira River valley, occurring concurrently. Abundance was low (< 13 indiv. m-2) compared with other banana plantations worldwide, that frequently surpassed 100 indiv. m-2. More than 70 studies reported earthworms from >200 banana plantations in 28 countries, and mean species richness was 2.7 per site, ranging from 1 to 10 species. Exotics predominated in most sites and P. corethrurus was the most prevalent species encountered. Overall, more than 104 species from 10 families were reported, with around 61 native and 43 exotic widespread species, mainly of the Megascolecidae, Lumbricidae and Acanthodrilidae families. Richness was highest in India (27 spp.) and the Canary Islands (25 spp.), but native species dominated only in a few countries and sites, while exotics were prevalent especially in island countries and Brazil. Lower-input practices appear to be important for earthworm communities and banana plantations can have large earthworm populations in some cases, which may be contributing to soil processes and plant production, topics that deserve further attention. However, many important banana-producing countries have not yet been evaluated, so further work is warranted, both in terms of applied ecology and biodiversity.
Highlights
Bananas and plantains are large, perennial herbs belonging to the genus Musa, that evolved in Indochina and Southeast Asia, but with major secondary diversification in Africa, India and the Caribbean (Price 1995)
In 2018, the six main banana producers were India, China, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador and the Philippines, while the six countries with the greatest surface area devoted to banana production were India (884,000 ha), Tanzania (490,701 ha), Philippines (484,247 ha), Rwanda (464,321 ha), Brazil (449,284 ha) and China (383,216 ha) (FAO 2018)
Earthworms are an important component of banana and plantain fields worldwide and deserve further attention by taxonomists, ecologists and agronomists
Summary
Bananas and plantains are large, perennial herbs belonging to the genus Musa, that evolved in Indochina and Southeast Asia, but with major secondary diversification in Africa, India and the Caribbean (Price 1995). Bananas are a major commodity, occupying over 6 million ha (FAO 2018) and representing an important contribution to the economy of many developing countries worldwide (OECD/FAO 2019). But are generally longer, have more starch and are mostly eaten cooked, rather than raw (like the bananas). They are a major staple crop in several African, Asian, Pacific, Latin American and Caribbean countries (Price 1995; Norgrove and Hauser 2014). India accounts for around 24% of global production and Brazil around 5% (FAO 2018), while the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region account for around 25% of the world’s banana production (OECD/FAO 2019)
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