Abundance and Diversity of Earthworms in Managed and Non- Managed Fallow Lands of Calakmul Reserve of Campeche, Mexico

A dominant native earthworm species, Zapatadrilus siboney, was found to thrive equally in both managed and non-managed fallow lands within the Calakmul Reserve, Mexico. The study revealed no significant difference in total biomass or density between these land management types, though species richness was notably lower in non-managed areas. A strong correlation emerged between earthworm density and richness with the age of fallow lands (r²: 0.9 and 0.7; p < 0.05), while management type appeared to influence biomass (r²: 0.56; p < 0.05). The research analyzed 49 sites, including managed fallow lands, non-managed fallow lands, and tropical rain forests, using the TSBF method to collect earthworms at the end of the rainy season.

Lwanga, E. H., Cid, L. S.-d., Esparza-Olguín, L., Martinez-Romero, E., Jong, B. d., & Ochoa-Gaona, S. (2018). Abundance and Diversity of Earthworms in Managed and Non- Managed Fallow Lands of Calakmul Reserve of Campeche, Mexico. Earthworms - the Ecological Engineers of Soil. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75619