FUNGAL ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY IN EARTHWORM CASTS AND IN UNINGESTED SOIL

Earthworm casts and adjacent uningested soil from 30 different locatio ns were compared to determine the abundance and diversity of fungal sp ecies. The casts contained larger fungal populations (g-1 dry soil wei ght) and numbers of fungal species than the soil. Variations in these parameters between casts and soil were statistically significant (P = 0.05). Fungal populations and the number of fungal species in casts an d soil also varied significantly (P = 0.05) between samples from diffe rent locations. A total of 27 fungal species were recorded from the ca sts and soil. Indices of dominance (0.084 casts; 0.14 soil) and genera l diversity (2.53 casts; 2.02 soil) demonstrated that the casts displa yed more diverse fungal flora than the soil. The diversity of fungal s pecies increased in earthworm casts after passing through the earthwor m gut.