Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Journals |
| DOI | 10.25674/so91iss3pp114 |
| Title (Primary) | Climate change effects on earthworms - a review |
| Author | Singh, J.; Schädler, M.; Demetrio, W.; Brown, G.G.; Eisenhauer, N. |
| Source Titel | Soil Organisms |
| Year | 2019 |
| Department | BZF; iDiv |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Page From | 114 |
| Page To | 138 |
| Language | englisch |
| Keywords | Biodiversity; Climate change; Climate drivers; Cocoons; Earthworm invasions; Soil organisms |
| Abstract |
Climate change can have a plethora of effects on organisms above and
below the ground in terrestrial ecosystems. Given the tremendous
biodiversity in the soil and the many ecosystem functions governed by
soil organisms, the drivers of soil biodiversity have received
increasing attention. Various climatic factors like temperature,
precipitation, soil moisture, as well as extreme climate events like
drought and flood have been shown to alter the composition and
functioning of communities in the soil. Earthworms are important
ecosystem engineers in the soils of temperate and tropical climates and
play crucial roles for many ecosystem services, including decomposition,
nutrient cycling, and crop yield. Here, we review the published
literature on climate change effects on earthworm communities and
activity. In general, we find highly species- and ecological
group-specific responses to climate change, which are likely to result
in altered earthworm community composition in future ecosystems.
Earthworm activity, abundance, and biomass tend to increase with
increasing temperature at sufficiently high soil water content, while
climate extremes like drought and flooding have deleterious effects.
Changing climate conditions may facilitate the invasion of earthworms at
higher latitudes and altitudes, while dryer and warmer conditions may
limit earthworm performance in other regions of the world. The present
summary of available information provides a first baseline for
predictions of future earthworm distribution. It also reveals the
shortage of studies on interacting effects of multiple global change
effects on earthworms, such as potential context-dependent effects of
climate change at different soil pollution levels and across ecosystem
types. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=22488 |
| Singh, J., Schädler, M., Demetrio, W., Brown, G.G., Eisenhauer, N. (2019): Climate change effects on earthworms - a review Soil Organisms 91 (3), 114 - 138 10.25674/so91iss3pp114 |
|