Scientific names: Acer negundo L., Aceraceae. Synonyms: Negundo aceroides Moench (1794), Negundo fraxinifolium (Nutt.) DC. (1824). Common names: Box-elder, ash-leaved maple, manitoba maple (GB and US), Eschen-Ahorn (DE), askbladet lon (DK), saarvaher (EE), Saarnivaahtera (FI), askhlynur (IS), uosialapis klevas (LT), Oslapu kļava (LV), Vederesdoorn (NL), asklonn (NO), klon jesionolistny, jesioklon (PL), asklonn (SE).

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NOBANIS -Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet

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.

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Global distribution of earthworm diversity

The adoption of less intensive soil cultivation practices is expected to increase earthworm populations and their contributions to ecosystem functioning. However, conflicting results have been reported on the effects of tillage intensity on earthworm populations, attributed in narrative reviews to site-dependent differences in soil properties, climatic conditions and agronomic operations (e.g. fertilization, residue management and chemical crop protection). We present a quantitative review based on a global meta-analysis, using paired observations from 165 publications performed over 65 years (1950–2016) across 40 countries on five continents, to elucidate this long-standing unresolved issue. Results showed that disturbing the soil less (e.g. no-tillage and conservation agriculture [CA]) significantly increased earthworm abundance (mean increase of 137% and 127%, respectively) and biomass (196% and 101%, respectively) compared to when the soil is inverted by conventional ploughing. Earthworm population responses were more pronounced when the soil had been under reduced tillage (RT) for a long time (>10 years), in warm temperate zones with fine-textured soils, and in soils with higher clay contents (>35%) and low pH (<5.5). Furthermore, retaining organic harvest residues amplified this positive response to RT, whereas the use of the herbicide glyphosate did not significantly affect earthworm population responses to RT. Additional meta-analyses confirmed that epigeic and, more importantly, the bigger-sized anecic earthworms were the most sensitive ecological groups to conventional tillage. In particular, the deep burrower Lumbricus terrestris exhibited the strongest positive response to RT, increasing in abundance by 124% more than the overall mean of all 13 species analysed individually. The restoration of these two important ecological groups of earthworms and their burrowing, feeding and casting activities under various forms of RT will ensure the provision of ecosystem functions such as soil structure maintenance and nutrient cycling by “nature's plough.”

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Conventional tillage decreases the abundance and biomass of earthworms and alters their community structure in a global meta-analysis.

Soils harbor a substantial fraction of the world's biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning of soil organisms to support their conservation and consideration by governance. These macroecological analyses need to represent the diversity of environmental conditions that can be found worldwide. Here we identify and characterize existing environmental gaps in soil taxa and ecosystem functioning data across soil macroecological studies and 17,186 sampling sites across the globe. These data gaps include important spatial, environmental, taxonomic, and functional gaps, and an almost complete absence of temporally explicit data. We also identify the limitations of soil macroecological studies to explore general patterns in soil biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, with only 0.3% of all sampling sites having both information about biodiversity and function, although with different taxonomic groups and functions at each site. Based on this information, we provide clear priorities to support and expand soil macroecological research.

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Blind spots in global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research.

Mapping earthworm communities in Europe

The ‘New Zealand flatworm’, Arthurdendyus triangulatus, is a native of the South Island of New Zealand, which has established in the UK, Ireland and the Faroe Islands. In its introduced range, it is a predator of lumbricid earthworms. To assess the impact of A. triangulatus on earthworm species, flatworm distributions were manipulated into ‘high’, control and ‘low’ densities within a replicated field experiment. Earthworm biomass in the ‘high’ flatworm density treatment was significantly lower than the control or ‘low’ treatments. This was due to a reduction in the anecic species Lumbricus terrestris and, to a lesser extent, Aporrectodea longa. There was little evidence of negative effects on other earthworm species, with even a weakly positive relationship between flatworm density and epigeic biomass. Principal components analysis showed a clear separation of anecic species from A. triangulatus, but the epigeic species Lumbricus festivus and Lumbricus rubellus grouped with A. triangulatus, suggesting that they could be benefitting from reduced intraguild competition. Flatworm densities of 0.8 per m2, comparable to natural infestations in grassland, were predicted to give a reduction in total earthworm biomass of c. 20 %. The bulk of this was comprised of a reduction in anecic species biomass. In particular, it is considered that A. triangulatus poses a serious risk to L. terrestris populations, with implications for soil functioning and indigenous earthworm-feeding wildlife.

Archie K. Murchie

Papers

Mapping earthworm communities in Europe

The impact of the ‘New Zealand flatworm’, Arthurdendyus triangulatus, on earthworm populations in the field

Responses of earthworm species to long-term applications of slurry