Global distribution of earthworm diversity

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.

PHILLIPS Helen R. P.;  GUERRA Carlos;  BARTZ Marie;  BRIONES María;  BROWN George;  CROWTHER Thomas;  FERLIAN Olga;  GONGALSKY Konstantin;  VAN DEN HOOGEN Johan;  KREBS Julia;  ORGIAZZI Alberto;  ROUTH D;  SCHWARZ Benjamin;  BACH Elizabeth;  BENNETT Joanne;  BROSE Ulrich;  DECAENS Thibaud;  KONIG-RIES Birgitta;  LOREAU Michel;  MATHIEU Jérôme;  MULDER Christian;  VAN DER PUTTEN Wim;  RAMIREZ Kelly;  RILLIG Matthias C.;  RUSSELL David J.;  RUTGERS Michiel;  THAKUR Madhav P.;  DE VRIES Franciska;  WALL Diana;  WARDLE David A.;  ARAI Miwa;  AYUKE Fredrick O.;  BAKER Geoff H.;  BEAUSEJOUR Robin;  BEDANO José C.;  BIRKHOFER Klaus;  BLANCHART Eric;  BLOSSEY Bernd;  BOLGER Thomas;  BRADLEY Robert L.;  CALLAHAM Mac A.;  CAPOWIEZ Yvan;  CAULFIELD Mark E.;  CHOI Amy;  CROTTY Felicity V.;  CRUMSEY Jasmine M.;  DAVALOS Andrea;  DIAZ COSIN Dario J.;  DOMINGUEZ Anahí;  DUHOUR Andrés Estaban;  VAN EEKEREN Nick;  EMMERLING Christoph;  FALCO Liliana B.;  FERNANDEZ Rosa;  FONTE Steven J.;  FRAGOSO Carlos;  FRANCO André L. C.;  FUGERE Martine;  FUSILERO Abegail T.;  GHOLAMI Shaieste;  GUNDALE Michael J.;  GUTIERREZ LOPEZ Monica;  HACKENBERGER Davorka K.;  HERNANDEZ Luis M.;  HISHI Takuo;  HOLDSWORTH Andrew R.;  HOLMSTRUP Martin;  HOPFENSPERGER Kristine N.;  HUERTA LWANGA Esperanza;  HUHTA Veikko;  HURISSO Tunsisa T.;  IANNONE Basil V.;  IORDACHE Madalina;  JOSCHKO Monika;  KANEKO Nobuhiro;  KANIANSKA Radoslava;  KEITH Aidan;  KELLY Courtland A.;  KERNECKER Maria L.;  KLAMINDER Jonatan;  KONE Armand W.;  KOOCH Yahya;  KUKKONEN Sanna T.;  LATHANZARA H.;  LAMMEL Daniel R.;  LEVEDEV Iuril M.;  LI Yiqing;  LIDON Juan B. Jesus;  LINCOLN Noa K.;  LOSS Scott R.;  MARICHAL Raphael;  MATULA Radim;  MOOS Jan Hendrik;  MORENO Gerardo;  MORON-RIOS Alejandro;  MUYS Bart;  NEIRYNCK J.;  NORGROVE Lindsey;  NOVO Marta;  NUUTINEN Visa;  NUZZO Victoria;  RAHMAN Mujeeb;  PANSU Johan;  PAUDEL Shishir;  PERES Guenola;  PEREZ-CAMACHO Lorenzo;  PINEIRO Raul;  PONGE Jean-Francois;  RASHID Muhammad Imtiaz;  REBOLLO Salvador;  RODEIRO-IGLESIAS Javier;  RODRIGUEZ Miguel A.;  ROTH Alexander M.;  ROUSSEAU Guillaume X.;  ROZEN Anna;  SAYAD Ehsan;  VAN SCHAIK Loes;  SCHARENBROCH Bryant C.;  SCHIRRMANN Michael;  SCHMIDT Olaf;  SCHRODER Boris;  SEEBER Julia;  SHASHKOV Maxim P.;  SINGH Jaswinder;  SMITH Sandy M.;  STEINWANDTER Michael;  TALAVERA Jose A.;  TRIGO Dolores;  TSUKAMOTO Jiro;  DE VALENCA Anne W.;  VANEK Steven J.;  VIRTO Iñigo;  WACKETT Adrian A.;  WARREN Matthew W.;  WEHR Nathaniel H.;  WHALEN Joann K.;  WIRONEN Michael B.;  WOLTERS Volkmar;  ZENKOVA Irina V.;  ZHANG Weixin;  CAMERON Erin;  EISENHAUER Nico; 

2021-06-25

AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE

JRC116955

0036-8075 (online),   

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6464/480,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC116955,   

10.1126/science.aax4851 (online),