Comparison of the earthworm population of a garden infested with the Australian land flatworm (Australoplana sanguinea alba) with that of a non-infested garden
G. Santoro et Hd. Jones, Comparison of the earthworm population of a garden infested with the Australian land flatworm (Australoplana sanguinea alba) with that of a non-infested garden, PEDOBIOLOG, 45(4), 2001, pp. 313-328
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.