IJFAF | Comparative study on Population of Earthworms in Different Habitat Types along altitude in Tsholingkhar gewog, Tsirang district, Bhutan

Indexing and Abstracting

Comparative study on Population of Earthworms in Different Habitat Types along altitude in Tsholingkhar gewog, Tsirang district, Bhutan

Bhagat Suberi , Bhakti Sharma Koirala

Article Info: Received: 14 Jul 2020; Received in revised form: 11 Aug 2021; Accepted: 20 Aug 2021; Available online: 29 Aug 2021

Download | Downloads : 11 | Total View : 1976

DOI: 10.22161/ijfaf.5.4.2

Journal : International Journal Of Forest, Animal And Fisheries Research(IJFAF)

Abstract:

Earthworms are one of the very diverse organisms in the environment. The abundance of the earthworms relates to the different land use, human activity, biotic and abiotic factors on nature. The diversity and abundance of earthworms was studied in different habitats; broadleaved forest, chirpine forest, residential area and agriculture land with the aim to understand the variation in earthworm species in those habitats. Between the altitude 650-1450masl. a total of 20 major plots and 100 sub-plots was made to assess the earthworm diversity in selectedhabitat. Physio-chemical analysis of soil was done to know the diversity, abundance and density of earthworms. The result of study does find two orders, five families and seven species of earthworms. They were Amynthasalexandri, Metaphirehoulleti, Perionyx excavatus, Aporrectodeacalciginosa, Dichogastersp., Pontoscolexcorethrurus and Darwidasp. Broadleaved had the highest diversity with Shannon index of 2.04 and the lowest diversity was found in chirpine forest with Shannon index of 1.6. The highest richness was in the broadleaved forest with index of 0.827. Amynthasalexandri was present in all the habitats and it had the highest relative abundance of 28.12%, relative density of 32.80 per m2 and frequency of 25%. The lowest relative density, abundance and frequency was found in Darwida sp. The analysis of variance showed thatthe NPK content in the soil has effect on the density of earthworm along the altitude. In lower altitude at 650 masl. The density of earthworms was more with a high amount of NPK in soil and in higher altitude at 1450masl. the decrease in NPK showed low earthworm density. Pearson correlation showed a positive correlation with soil Physico-chemical parameters and an abundance of earthworms.

Keywords:

Altitude, Diversity, Earthworms, Habitats, Soil parameters.

References:

[1] Aira, M., Monroy, F., & DomÃnguez, J. (2006). C to N ratio strongly affects population structure of Eisenia fetida in vermicomposting systems. European journal of soil biology, 42, S127-S131.

[2] Bhadauria, T., & Ramakrishnan, P. S. (1991). Population dynamics of earthworms and their activity in forest ecosystems of north-east India. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 7(3), 305-318.

[3] Bhadauria, T., Ramakrishnan, P. S., & Srivastava, K. N. (2000). Diversity and distribution of endemic and exotic earthworms in natural and regenerating ecosystems in the central Himalayas, India. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 32(14), 2045-2054.

[4] Bouche, M. B. (1969). Comparaison critique demeÂ´thodesdâ€™eÂ´valuation des populations de LombricideÂ´s. Pedobiologia , 9, 26â€“34.

[5] Brown, G. G., Benito, N. P., Pasini, A., Sautter, K. D., de F GuimarÃ£es, M., & Torres, E. (2003). No-tillage greatly increases earthworm populations in ParanÃ¡ state, Brazil: The 7th international symposium on earthworm ecologyÂ· CardiffÂ· WalesÂ· 2002. Pedobiologia, 47(5-6), 764-771.

[6] Bullock, C., Kretsch, C., &Candon, E. (2008). The economic and social aspects of biodiversity: benefits and costs of biodiversity in Ireland. Stationery Office.

[7] Curry, J. P. (2004). Factors affecting the abundance of earthworms in soils. Earthworm ecology, 9, 113-113.

[8] Csuzdi, C. (2012). Earthworm species, a searchable database. Opuscula Zoologica Budapest, 43(1), 97-99.

[9] DecaÃ«ns, T., Bureau, F., &Margerie, P. (2003). Earthworm communities in a wet agricultural landscape of the Seine Valley (Upper Normandy, France): The 7th international symposium on earthworm ecologyÂ· CardiffÂ· WalesÂ· 2002. Pedobiologia, 47(5-6), 479-489.

[10] Dewi, W. S., & Senge, M. (2015). Earthworm diversity and ecosystem services under threat. Reviews in Agricultural Science, 3, 25-35.

[11] Dickey, J. B. &Kaldivko, E.J. (1989). Sample unit sizes and shapes for quantitative sampling ofearthworm populations in crop lands. Soil Biol Biochem, 21, 105â€“111.

[12] Drollinger, S., MÃ¼ller, M., Kobl, T., Schwab, N., BÃ¶hner, J., Schickhoff, U., & Scholten, T. (2017). Decreasing nutrient concentrations in soils and trees with increasing elevation across a treeline ecotone in RolwalingHimal, Nepal. Journal of Mountain Science, 14(5), 843-858.

[13] Edwards, C. A., & Bohlen, P. J. (1996). Biology and ecology of earthworms (Vol. 3). Springer Science & Business Media.

[14] Fragoso, C., & Lavelle, P. (1992). Earthworm communities of tropical rain forests. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 24(12), 1397-1408.

[15] Fragoso, C., Lavelle, P., Blanchart, E., Senapati, B. K., Jimenez, J. J., MartÃnez, M. A., &Tondoh, J. (1999). Earthworm communities of tropical agroecosystems: origin, structure and influence of management practices. Earthworm management in tropical agroecosystems, 27-55.

[16] Gates, G. E. (1972). Burmese earthworms: an introduction to the systematics and biology of megadrile oligochaetes with special reference to Southeast Asia. Transactions of the American philosophical Society, 62(7), 1-326.

[17] Ghavzan, N. J., Gunale, V. R., Mahajan, D. M., &Shirke, D. R. (2006). Effects of environmental factors on ecology and distribution of aquatic macrophytes. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences, 5(5), 871-880

[18] Hau, J., Qiao, Y., Liu, G., & Dong, R. (2005). The influence of temperature, pH and C/N ratio on the growth and survival of earthworms in municipal solid waste. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal

[19] Holtmeier, F. K. (2009). Mountain timberlines: ecology, patchiness, and dynamics (Vol. 36). Springer Science & Business Media.pp 1-438

[20] Hopp, H., & Linder, P. J. (1947). A principle for maintaining earthworms in farm soils. Science, 105(2739), 663-664.

[21] Huber, E., Wanek, W., Gottfried, M., Pauli, H., Schweiger, P., Arndt, S. K., & Richter, A. (2007). Shift in soilâ€“plant nitrogen dynamics of an alpineâ€“nival ecotone. Plant and Soil, 301(1-2), 65-76. DOI: 10.1007/s11104-007-9422-2

[22] Julka, J. M. (1988). Megadrile Oligochaeta (earthworms).: Haplotazida, Lumbricina. Megascolecoidea, Octochaetidae. Zoological Survey of India.

[23] Kale, R. D. (1998). Earthworm: Cinderella of organic farming. Prism.

[24] Karltun, E., Lemenih, M. &Tolera, M. (2013). Comparing Farmers' Perception of Soil Fertility Change with Soil Properties and Crop Performance in Beseku, Ethiopia.,Journal of Land Degradation. 24(3): 228-235.

[25] Kathireswari, P. (2016). DNA barcoding of earthworms. In Science communicators meet (103rd ISCA, Mysore).

[26] KÃ¶rner, C., & Paulsen, J. (2004). A worldâ€wide study of high altitude treeline temperatures. Journal of biogeography, 31(5), 713-732. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365- 2699.2003.01043.x

[27] Lazcano, C., Gomez, B. M., & DomÄ±nguez, J. (2008). Comparison of the effectiveness of composting and vermicomposting for the biological stabilization of cattle manure, Chemosphere, 72(7), 1013-1019. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2008.04.016

[28] Lee, K. E. (1985). Earthworms, their ecology and relationships with soils and land use. Academic, New York

[29] Ludwig, J. A., QUARTET, L., Reynolds, J. F., & Reynolds, J. F. (1988). Statistical ecology: a primer in methods and computing (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons.

[30] Makin, A. A., Miah, M. F., Yadav, S. K., Deb, M., & Khan, Z. K. (2014). Ecological diversity and abundance of earthworms in sylhet metropolitan area of Bangladesh. Advances in Zoology and Botany, 2(4), 63-68.

[31] McLean, M. A., & Parkinson, D. (2000). Introduction of the epigeic earthworm Dendrobaena octaedra changes the oribatid community and microarthropod abundances in a pine forest. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 32(11-12), 1671-1681.

[32] McNown, R. W., & Sullivan, P. F. (2013). Low photosynthesis of treeline white spruce is associated with limited soil nitrogen availability in the Western Brooks Range, A laska. Functional Ecology, 27(3), 672-683. DOI: 10.1111/1365- 2435.12082

[33] MilÃ©o, L. J., Silva, J. F., Albertino, S. M. F., Leite, B. N., Menezes, D. S., & Santos, A. F. (2016). Phytosociology of weeds in cultivation of two varieties of cassava1. Planta Daninha, 34(2), 267-276.

[34] Millennium Ecosystem Assessment [MEA]. (2005). Ecosystems and Human Well Being SynthesisPublisherWHO.Retrievefromhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/266373839_Ecosystems_and_Human_Well_Being_Synthesis/stats

[35] Ministry of Agriculture and Forest. (2017). Atlas of Bhutan: Punakha. Retrieved from http://www.geokatalog.de/katalog2/downloads/Bhutan_LandUseCover_Atlas_2016.pdf

[36] Mubeen, H., & Hatti, S. S. (2018). Earthworms diversity of Koppal district with the updated information on genus Thatonia of Hyderabadâ€“Karnataka region, Karnataka, India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, 11(4), 482-493.

[37] Morris, E. K., Caruso, T., Buscot, F., Fischer, M., Hancock, C., Maier, T. S., &Socher, S. A. (2014). Choosing and using diversity indices: insights for ecological applications from the German Biodiversity Exploratories. Ecology and evolution, 4(18), 3514-3524.

[38] Najar, I. A., & Khan, A. B. (2011). Earthworm communities of Kashmir valley, India. Tropical Ecology, 52(2), 151-162.

[39] Reynolds, J. W. (1994). Earthworms of the world. Global Biodiversity, 4(1), 11-16.

[40] Ramanujam, S. N., & Jha, L. K. (2011). Population dynamics of earthworms in relation to soil physico-chemical parameters in agroforestry systems of Mizoram, India. Journal of Environmental Biology, 32, 599-605.

[41] This browser does not support PDFs. Please download the PDF to view it: Download PDF