@misc{10481/50015,
year = {2018},
month = {1},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/50015},
abstract = {Biological invasions pose a serious threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
across ecosystems. Invasions by ecosystem engineers, in particular, have been
shown to have dramatic effects in recipient ecosystems. For instance, invasion by
earthworms, a below-ground invertebrate ecosystem engineer, in previously earthworm-free
ecosystems alters the physico-chemical characteristics of the soil.
Studies have shown that such alterations in the soil can have far-reaching impacts
on soil organisms, which form a major portion of terrestrial biodiversity.
Here, we present the first quantitative synthesis of earthworm invasion effects
on soil micro-organisms and soil invertebrates based on 430 observations from 30
independent studies.
Our meta-analysis shows a significant decline of the diversity and density of soil invertebrates
in response to earthworm invasion with anecic and endogeic earthworms
causing the strongest effects. Earthworm invasion effects on soil micro-organisms
were context-dependent, such as depending on functional group richness of invasive
earthworms and soil depth. Microbial biomass and diversity increased in mineral soil
layers, with a weak negative effect in organic soil layers, indicating that the mixing of
soil layers by earthworms (bioturbation) may homogenize microbial communities
across soil layers.
Our meta-analysis provides a compelling evidence for negative effects of a common
invasive below-ground ecosystem engineer on below-ground biodiversity of
recipient ecosystems, which could potentially alter the ecosystem functions and
services linked to soil biota.},
organization = {European Union's Horizon 2020, Grant/ Award Number: 677232; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; German Research Foundation, Grant/Award Number: FZT 118},
publisher = {Wiley},
keywords = {Biodiversity change},
keywords = {Biological invasion},
keywords = {Ecosystem engineer},
keywords = {Soil invertebrates},
keywords = {Soil micro-organisms},
title = {Invasive earthworms erode soil biodiversity: A meta-analysis},
doi = {10.1111/1365-2656.12746},
author = {Ferlian, Olga and Eisenhauer, Nico and Aguirrebengoa, Martin and Camara, Mariama and Ramírez-Rojas, Irene and Santos, Fábio and Tanalgo, Krizler and Thakur, Madhav P.},
}