Earthworm communities in birch stands with different origin in central Finland

The aim of the study was to compare earthworm communities in anthropogenous birch stands with different origin in Finland. A total of nine forest sites were investigated: three birch stands (Betula pendula) planted ca. 30 years prior to the study after clear-cutting of spruce stands (“Birch after Spruce”, BS), three birch stands planted ca. 30 years earlier on arable soil that had been under normal cultivation until forestation (“Birch after Field”, BF), and three “Natural Deciduous” forests (D). Earthworms were sampled in May and October 1999 using a combination of formaline extraction and modified wet funnels. There were conspicuous differences between replicates of similarly managed forests. Earthworms were totally lacking in one of the D sites, while another had an abundant and diverse community. Only Dendrobaena octaedra was present in one BS site, while the two others harboured also Aporrectodea caliginosa and three Lumbricus species. All these species were also present in the BF sites, where their total biomass (ranging from 70 to 138 g (f.w.)/m²) was 2.6 times the average in BS, and of the same magnitude as the average in natural deciduous stands. A separate experiment revealed that L. terresris and A. caliginosa, which are not found in the surrounding coniferous forest, are able to live and reproduce in the soil of the D site where they were absent. It was concluded that earthworm species survive and reproduce in birch stands established on arable soil, where they have invaded during the long cultivation. On the other hand, their possibilities to disperse from cultural landscapes determine their presence not only in birch stands established in earlier coniferous forests, but also in “natural deciduous” forests where source populations are not present in the surroundings.