Global distribution of earthworm diversity

Helen R. P. Phillips (1, 2) , Carlos A. Guerra (1, 3) , Marie L. C. Bartz (4) , Maria J. I. Briones (5) , George Brown (6) , Olga Ferlian (1, 2) , Konstantin B. Gongalsky (7, 8) , Julia Krebs (1, 2) , Alberto Orgiazzi (9) , Benjamin Schwarz (10) , Elizabeth M. Bach (11, 12) , Joanne Bennett (1, 3) , Ulrich Brose (1, 13) , Thibaud Decaëns (14) , Franciska T. de Vries (15) , Birgitta König-Ries (1, 13) , Michel Loreau (16) , Jérôme Mathieu (17) , Christian Mulder (18) , Wim H. van Der Putten (19, 20) , Kelly S. Ramirez (19) , Matthias C. Rillig (21, 22) , David Russell (23) , Michiel Rutgers (24) , Madhav P. Thakur (19) , Diana H. Wall (11, 12) , David A. Wardle (25)

1 DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - German Research Foundation
2 Leipzig University / Universität Leipzig
3 Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
4 Universidade Positivo
5 Universidade de Vigo
6 Embrapa Forestry
7 A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution
8 MSU - Lomonosov Moscow State University
9 Joint Research Centre
10 Department of Biometry and Environmental System Analysis
11 Department of Biology
12 CSU - Colorado State University [Fort Collins]
13 Friedrich-Schiller-Universität = Friedrich Schiller University Jena [Jena, Germany]
14 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
15 UvA - University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] = Universiteit van Amsterdam
16 SETE - Station d'écologie théorique et expérimentale
17 iEES Paris - Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris
18 Unict - Università degli studi di Catania = University of Catania
19 KNAW - Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
20 Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences
21 Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB)
22 FU - Free University of Berlin
23 Senckenberg Research Institute
24 RIVM - National Institute for Public Health and the Environment [Bilthoven]
25 ASE - Asian School of the Environment

Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide.

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Helen R. P. Phillips, Carlos A. Guerra, Marie L. C. Bartz, Maria J. I. Briones, George Brown, et al.. Global distribution of earthworm diversity. 2019. ⟨hal-02788558⟩