The dispersal pattern of an anthropochorous species: Genetic variation in populations of Lumbricus terrestris L. (Lumbricidae) in the Faroe Islands

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Ten populations of the anthropochorous Lumbricus terrestris L. (Lumbricidae) from six islands in the Faroes were scored for enzyme variation by electrophoresis. The allele frequencies were analyzed by cluster analysis and information entropy relationships. There was a significant heterogeneity in allele frequencies among the samples. Four groups could be distinguished in the cluster analysis of which one was larger (at least five sites); two sites were defined as outliers. Information entropy showed that the allele frequency data were structured differently over the sites and that the most non-random site was also one of the outliers in the cluster space. The main group in the cluster analysis also forms a geographically central group in the islands. These results are discussed against the known colonization history of the Faroes. It is concluded that the genetic variation pattern does not indicate any single point of invasion of L. terrestris into the islands. Rather, it shows that former and present-day communications between the islands are responsible for similarities and dissimilarities in genetic variation in the L. terrestris populations.