Abstract
Earthworms are important members of the soil fauna since they regulate fundamental soil functions such as organic matter breakdown, fertility, structure and water balance. However, so far, their community assemblages have been poorly investigated in Greece. In this context, the earthworm communities of forty five sites in Greece, belonging to three types of ecosystems—terrestrial water bodies, undisturbed (natural) sites and cultivated (agricultural and urban) fields—were investigated using the combined method of digging and hand sorting followed by the application of a 0.4% formaldehyde solution. Specific soil parameters and various environmental characteristics were examined as potential factors affecting the abundance and species richness. The results showed no statistically significant difference between ecosystem densities. The species number was significantly different between ecosystems, with the cultivated fields exhibiting richer communities, with a mean of 5.3 ± 0.6 species per site compared to the natural areas with 2.4 ± 0.5 species per site, while the water bodies showed intermediate numbers (3.6 ± 0.5 species per site). Finally, earthworm densities were positively correlated with species number and percentage vegetation cover and negatively with clay. These results may contribute to understanding how different land uses affect earthworm communities.
Highlights
Earthworm ecology and behavior have long attracted scientific interest due to their important role in soil ecosystems [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
The research of earthworm populations in their natural habitats is a challenge due to the numerous components interfering with the structure of the earthworm communities, such as zoogeographical zone, climate, altitude, topography, water availability, land use, soil properties, type of vegetation, relationships with the natural fauna and human intervention, among others [12]
Very useful information on earthworm communities can be obtained from research dealing with the impacts of different agricultural practices on cultivated soil
Summary
Earthworm ecology and behavior have long attracted scientific interest due to their important role in soil ecosystems [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Very useful information on earthworm communities can be obtained from research dealing with the impacts of different agricultural practices on cultivated soil. In this context, it was concluded [14] that soil organic matter and pH enhance earthworm biodiversity, abundance and biomass in grasslands in Northern France, though sand content and livestock density have negative impacts. The average density was 517 ± 57 individuals m−2 and the annual species richness fluctuated from 11 ± 0.4 to 7.9 ± 0.4, depending on the weather conditions in each year. The total mean abundances fluctuated from 472 ± 366 to 185 ± 132 individuals m−2 in arable land, depending on the year, and reached 732 ± 244 individuals m−2 in the leys
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