EXOTIC EARTHWORMS ACCELERATE PLANT LITTER DECOMPOSITION IN A PUERTO RICAN PASTURE AND A WET FOREST

Abstract

Tropical land-use changes can have profound influence on earthworms that play important roles in regulating soil processes. Converting tropical forests to pastures often drastically increases the abundance of exotic earthworm populations such as Pontoscolex corethrurus. We initiated this study to examine the influence of exotic earthworms on the decomposition of plant leaves and roots in a tropical pasture and a wet forest of Puerto Rico. We employed two treatments: control with natural earthworm population, and earthworm reduction using an electroshocking technique. Decomposition rates of plant leaves on the ground surface and root materials within the surface mineral soil were estimated using a litterbag technique. To understand the role that exotic earthworms play in altering plant litter decomposition, we also compared soil CO2 evolution rates, soil microbial biomass, and physical and chemical soil properties between the controls and earthworm-reduced plots during a one-year period. Earthworm populati...