The efficiency of soil hand-sorting in assessing the abundance and biomass of earthworm communities. Its usefulness in population dynamics and cohort analysis studies |
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| Institution: | 1. Laboratoire d''Écologie des Sols Tropicaux, IRD, 32, Avenue Henri-Varagnat, 93143 Bondy cedex, France;2. Laboratoire d''Écologie, UPRES-EA 1293, UFR Sciences et Techniques, Université de Rouen, 76821 Mont-Saint-Aignan cedex, France;1. Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Resources Innovation and Utilization, Guangzhou 510640 (China);2. College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University/Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture for South China Farmland Conservation, Guangzhou 510642 (China);1. AgResearch, Lincoln, Private Bag 4749, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand;2. AgResearch, Grasslands, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand;1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, University of Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E Box 2411, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium;2. Forest & Nature Lab, Department Forest and Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, B-9090 Gontrode, Belgium;3. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany;4. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Am Kirchtor 1, D-06108 Halle (Saale), Germany;5. Laboratory of Plant and Microbial Ecology, University of Liège, Botany Bât. 22, Quartier Vallée 1, Chemin de la Vallée 4, 4000 Liège, Belgium;6. Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark;7. University Stefan cel Mare of Suceava, Forestry Faculty, 13 Universitatii Street, 720229 Suceava, Romania;8. Natural Resources Institute Finland, Box 68, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland;9. Centre of Evolutionary and Functional Ecology (CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS – University of Montpellier – University Paul-Valéry Montpellier – EPHE), 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France;10. Bia?owie?a Geobotanical Station, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Sportowa 19, 17-230 Bia?owie?a, Poland;11. Department of Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraße 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany;12. Department of Agri-Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Firenze, Piazzale delle Cascine 28, 50144, Firenze, Italy;13. Department of Special Botany and Functional Biodiversity, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany;14. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Serrano 115 dpdo, E-28006 Madrid, Spain;1. Dipartimento di Agronomia, Animali, Alimenti, Risorse Naturali e Ambiente DAFNAE, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, Padova, Italy;2. Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via U. Bassi, 58/b, 35121 Padova, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Pit digging and manually revising soil blocks is a frequently used method used for field studies of earthworm communities. The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of hand-sorting (HS) to extract small earthworms, ca. 0.2 g, and the usefulness in studies of population dynamics and cohort analysis. Many earthworms are not recovered when revising manually the soil. Factors include soil characteristics, i.e. moisture, texture, etc. and also a human factor, which is more relevant if the study is conducted in the long-term. We used data collected in a field study of earthworm communities during 2 years in the savannas of Colombia. Small soil blocks (20 × 20 × 20 cm) were dug out in order to collect the smallest earthworms by washing-sieving (WS) and compare the results with the standard HS of large monoliths (100 × 100 × 50 cm). In fact, this methodology has rarely been addressed in earthworm population field studies. Our results showed that HS efficiency varied owing to the species and ranged from 31.4% up to 100% in the savanna and from 44% to 80% in the pasture, for two small species, i.e Aymara n. sp. (epigeic) and Ocnerodrilidae sp. (endogeic). In the case of the Glossodrilus n. sp. (endogeic) these values were similar, i.e. 51.7% and 58.1%, in the savanna and pasture, respectively. We also used frequency tables to calculate the average efficiency of HS 1 m2 soil cores for each weight class in each species in order to obtain a population density correction factor. This allowed us to make corrections in earthworm density in the histograms for population dynamics analysis. We conclude that this method should be the modus operandi in long-term earthworm demography studies. |
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