New data and hypotheses on the invasiveness, habitat selection, and ecological role of the limicolous earthworm Sparganophilus tamesis Benham, 1892

Abstract

A recent molecular barcode study certified the conspecificity of mutually distant European populations of the limicolous earthworm Sparganophilus tamesis Benham, 1892 with the most widespread species of Sparganophilus in North America, and that all the analysed European worms descend from a recent introduction, probably via one or more point-source events with subsequent dispersion. We present the first records from Belgium and the Atlantic coast of southern France, and further genetic evidence confirming the species’ high dispersal abilities and historical movement within and across European drainage boundaries, as well as its capacity to establish in different types of aquatic ecosystems, including oligotrophic habitats. Experimental evidence suggests that the activity of Sparganophilus combined with that of oxygen-releasing plants, such as Lobelia dortmanna, may enhance the mobilization of refractory N pools within oligotrophic sediments, and, therefore, act as facilitator for both the macrophyte and the microbial communities in the rhizosphere. © 2018 E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany.