Abundance, species richness and diversity of earthworms (lumbricidae) in several habitats of the northern part of Jastrebac Mountain

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the diversity of earthworms in different habitats (meadow, humid meadow, oak and beech forest). A total of nine earthworm species belonging to six genera were found in the studied habitats. In the studied habitats, the earthworm fauna was found to be different: the beech forest was richer in earthworms (6 taxa), while the oak forest was poorest in earthworms (3 taxa). The earthworm abundance was higher in the humid meadow (34 individuals), while was lower in the beech forest (17 individuals). A combination of the alpha diversity index (Shannon-Weaver, Evenness, and Berger-Parker) and beta diversity (Jaccard’s coefficient of similarity) were used to determine the impact of studied habitats on the earthworm fauna. Shannon’s diversity and Shannon’s evenness indices had higher values in the beech forest/humid meadow, while the Berger-Parker index of dominance had higher values in oak forests. Jaccard’s index of similarity showed the earthworm fauna was clearly separated between the oak forest, meadow, humid meadow and beech forest. The results of these indices confirmed that vegetation cover strongly influences the diversity of earthworm fauna.