TY - JOUR
T1 - Wheat field earthworms under divergent farming systems across a European climate gradient
AU - Nuutinen, Visa
AU - Briones, Maria J.K.
AU - Schrader, Stefan
AU - Dekemati, Igor
AU - Grujic, Nikola
AU - Hyvönen, Juha
AU - Ivask, Mari
AU - Bo Lassen, Simon
AU - Lloret, Eva
AU - Ollio, Irene
AU - Pérez-Rodríguez, Paula
AU - Simon, Barbara
AU - Sutri, Merit
AU - De Sutter, Nancy
AU - Brandt, Kristian K.
AU - Peltoniemi, Krista
AU - Shanskiy, Merrit
AU - Waeyenberge, Lieven
AU - Martínez-Martínez, Silvia
AU - Fernández Calviño, David
PY - 2024/11/25
Y1 - 2024/11/25
N2 - Earthworms are a key faunal group in agricultural soils, but little is known on how farming systems affect their communities across wide climatic gradients and how farming system choice might mediate earthworms' exposure to climate conditions. Here, we studied arable soil earthworm communities on wheat fields across a European climatic gradient, covering nine pedo-climatic zones, from Mediterranean to Boreal (S to N) and from Lusitanian to Pannonian (W to E). In each zone, 20–25 wheat fields under conventional or organic farming were sampled. Community metrics (total abundance, fresh mass, and species richness and composition) were combined with data on climate conditions, soil properties, and field management and analyzed with mixed models. There were no statistically discernible differences between organic and conventional farming for any of the community metrics. The effects of refined arable management factors were also not detected, except for an elevated proportion of subsurface-feeding earthworms when crop residues were incorporated. Soil properties were not significantly associated with earthworm community variations, which in the case of soil texture was likely due to low variation in the data. Pedo-climatic zone was an overridingly important factor in explaining the variation in community metrics. The Boreal zone had the highest mean total abundance (179 individuals m−2) and fresh mass (86 g m−2) of earthworms while the southernmost Mediterranean zones had the lowest metrics (<1 individual m−2 and <1 g m−2). Within each field, species richness was low across the zones, with the highest values being recorded at the Nemoral and North Atlantic zones (mean of 2–3 species per field) and declining from there toward north and south. No litter-dwelling species were found in the southernmost, Mediterranean zones. These regional trends were discernibly related to climate, with the community metrics declining with the increasing mean annual temperature. The current continent-wide warming of Europe and related increase of severe and rapid onsetting droughts will likely deteriorate the living conditions of earthworms, particularly in southern Europe. The lack of interaction between the pedo-climatic zone and the farming system in our data for any of the earthworm community metrics may indicate limited opportunities for alleviating the negative effects of a warming climate in cereal field soils of Europe.
AB - Earthworms are a key faunal group in agricultural soils, but little is known on how farming systems affect their communities across wide climatic gradients and how farming system choice might mediate earthworms' exposure to climate conditions. Here, we studied arable soil earthworm communities on wheat fields across a European climatic gradient, covering nine pedo-climatic zones, from Mediterranean to Boreal (S to N) and from Lusitanian to Pannonian (W to E). In each zone, 20–25 wheat fields under conventional or organic farming were sampled. Community metrics (total abundance, fresh mass, and species richness and composition) were combined with data on climate conditions, soil properties, and field management and analyzed with mixed models. There were no statistically discernible differences between organic and conventional farming for any of the community metrics. The effects of refined arable management factors were also not detected, except for an elevated proportion of subsurface-feeding earthworms when crop residues were incorporated. Soil properties were not significantly associated with earthworm community variations, which in the case of soil texture was likely due to low variation in the data. Pedo-climatic zone was an overridingly important factor in explaining the variation in community metrics. The Boreal zone had the highest mean total abundance (179 individuals m−2) and fresh mass (86 g m−2) of earthworms while the southernmost Mediterranean zones had the lowest metrics (<1 individual m−2 and <1 g m−2). Within each field, species richness was low across the zones, with the highest values being recorded at the Nemoral and North Atlantic zones (mean of 2–3 species per field) and declining from there toward north and south. No litter-dwelling species were found in the southernmost, Mediterranean zones. These regional trends were discernibly related to climate, with the community metrics declining with the increasing mean annual temperature. The current continent-wide warming of Europe and related increase of severe and rapid onsetting droughts will likely deteriorate the living conditions of earthworms, particularly in southern Europe. The lack of interaction between the pedo-climatic zone and the farming system in our data for any of the earthworm community metrics may indicate limited opportunities for alleviating the negative effects of a warming climate in cereal field soils of Europe.
KW - arable fields
KW - climate change
KW - farming systems
KW - global warming
KW - macrofauna
KW - organic farming
KW - regional distributions
KW - soil biodiversity
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/3bef162d-ba81-35ca-8598-90caaa9ec13f/
U2 - 10.1002/eap.3066
DO - 10.1002/eap.3066
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
JO - Ecological applications
JF - Ecological applications
ER -