Wheat field earthworms under divergent farming systems across a European climate gradient

• Published in: Ecological applications 2024-11, p.e3066
• Main Authors: Nuutinen, Visa, Briones, Maria J I, Schrader, Stefan, Dekemati, Igor, Grujić, Nikola, Hyvönen, Juha, Ivask, Mari, Lassen, Simon Bo, Lloret, Eva, Ollio, Irene, Pérez-Rodríguez, Paula, Simon, Barbara, Sutri, Merit, de Sutter, Nancy, Brandt, Kristian K, Peltoniemi, Krista, Shanskiy, Merrit, Waeyenberge, Lieven, Martínez-Martínez, Silvia, Fernández-Calviño, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1051-0761; 1939-5582
• DOI: 10.1002/eap.3066

Earthworms are a key faunal group in agricultural soils, but little is known on how farming systems affect their communities across wide climatic gradients and how farming system choice might mediate earthworms' exposure to climate conditions. Here, we studied arable soil earthworm communities on wheat fields across a European climatic gradient, covering nine pedo-climatic zones, from Mediterranean to Boreal (S to N) and from Lusitanian to Pannonian (W to E). In each zone, 20-25 wheat fields under conventional or organic farming were sampled. Community metrics (total abundance, fresh mass, and species richness and composition) were combined with data on climate conditions, soil properties, and field management and analyzed with mixed models. There were no statistically discernible differences between organic and conventional farming for any of the community metrics. The effects of refined arable management factors were also not detected, except for an elevated proportion of subsurface-feeding earthworms when crop residues were incorporated. Soil properties were not significantly associated with earthworm community variations, which in the case of soil texture was likely due to low variation in the data. Pedo-climatic zone was an overridingly important factor in explaining the variation in community metrics. The Boreal zone had the highest mean total abundance (179 individuals m ) and fresh mass (86 g m ) of earthworms while the southernmost Mediterranean zones had the lowest metrics (