Comparison of the earthworm population of a garden infested with the Australian land flatworm (Australoplana sanguinea alba) with that of a non-infested garden

Earthworm populations of two domestic gardens are compared. One garden (S1) is infested with the Australian land pianarian, Australoplana sanguinea al ba, which is a predator of earthworms. The other (S2) is not. S1 is careful ly maintained, S2 is subject only to minimal maintenance. A range of univar iate and multivariate analyses is applied to the data. There is no differen ce between the sites in respect of: total abundance; total biomass; adult a nd juvenile numbers or biomass; epigeic species numbers and biomass; epigei c species numbers; abundance-biomass curves. There are differences between S1 and S2 in respect of: number of species (five at S1, 10 at S2); Margalef 's species richness (S1 < S2); Simpson's dominance (S1 > S2); Shannon-Wiene r diversity (S1 < S2); Pielou's evenness (S1 < S2); epigeic species biomass (S1 > S2); anecic species numbers and biomass (S1 < S2); cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling and ANOSIM. Thus there is evidence that the earth worm populations of the two sites differ.