Spatial distribution of the epigeic species of earthworms Dendrobaena octaedra and D. attemsi (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) in the forest belt of the northwestern Caucasus

Authors

ANNA GERASKINA
NICOLAI SHEVCHENKO

DOI

10.3906/zoo-1902-31

Abstract

Evaluation of the spatial distribution of 2 ecologically similar, but different, in terms of their spatial ranges, earthworm species, D. octaedra and D. attemsi, in the belt forests of northwestern Caucasus were based on our own natural data and using geographic information system (GIS) modeling of modern potential distributions. The quantitative records of earthworms were collected in beech, deciduous, dark coniferous, coniferous-deciduous, and pine forests (1028 geographic locations). Of the most important microsites inhabited by the epigeic earthworms, 2 (plant litter and deadwood) were examined. It was demonstrated that there was high correlation of the 2 species with the humidity of the habitat and the presence of deadwood at different stages of decomposition, especially for D. attemsi, which lives mainly in deadwood in all of the forest types. The high correlation of these species to coniferous-deciduous forests and dark coniferous forests was demonstrated on both the basis of the field data analysis and the GIS modeling results.

Keywords

Soil fauna, plant litter, microsite, deadwood, spatial modeling, potential distribution, climatic parameters

First Page

480

Last Page

489

Recommended Citation

GERASKINA, ANNA and SHEVCHENKO, NICOLAI (2019) "Spatial distribution of the epigeic species of earthworms Dendrobaena octaedra and D. attemsi (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) in the forest belt of the northwestern Caucasus," Turkish Journal of Zoology: Vol. 43: No. 5, Article 7. https://doi.org/10.3906/zoo-1902-31
Available at: https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/zoology/vol43/iss5/7