Earthworm population dynamics in three different land use systems along an altitudinal gradient (208–2609 m asl) in Kumaun Himalayas, India

Earthworm population density has been little studied in Kumaun Himalayas in different land use systems collectively. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of different land use systems along an altitudinal gradient on earthworm population density in Kumaun Himalayas. Earthworms were sampled...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tropical ecology 2022-03, Vol.63 (1), p.134-140
Main Authors: Rajwar, Neha, Singh, Vinay, Bhatt, Sparsh, Bisht, Satpal Singh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age composition
Agroforestry
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Conservation Biology/Ecology
Cultivation
Ecology
Ecosystems
Forests
Land use
Landscape Ecology
Life Sciences
Oligochaeta
Population density
Population dynamics
Rainy season
Seasons
Short Communications
Soil chemistry
Soil density
Soil pH
Soils
Variance analysis
Worms
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Earthworm population density has been little studied in Kumaun Himalayas in different land use systems collectively. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of different land use systems along an altitudinal gradient on earthworm population density in Kumaun Himalayas. Earthworms were sampled in seven different sites from three different land use systems (cultivated, agro-forest and forest systems) in every season (summer, rainy and winter) from two different monoliths (0–15 and 16–30 cm) and were sorted on the basis of their age-structure (clitellates and aclitellates) from May 2015–April 2017. Eight species of earthworms were recorded from the studied sites belonging to two different families—Megascolicidae and Lumbricidae. Earthworm population density varied significantly among land use system; they were recorded highest in forest system i.e. 47% (Nainital—2544 ind. m −2 ); intermediate in the agro-forest system i.e. 37% (Jeolikot—1102 ind. m −2 ); lowest in the cultivated system i.e. 20% (Kiccha—890 ind. m −2 ). Their density tended to be higher in the rainy season and more concentrated (95.19% of total earthworms) on the upper monolith (16–30 cm) irrespective of the land use. The age structure of earthworms indicated that clitellates were more abundant than aclitellates (1:0.8) for all three land use systems. A significant positive correlation was observed between the earthworm population density with soil pH (r = 0.711; P  
ISSN:0564-3295
2661-8982
DOI:10.1007/s42965-021-00178-x