Influence of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Diversity of Earthworms in Raebareli District of Indogangetic Plains, India

Land use-land cover change and management practices influence earthworm species composition and abundance. The natural and agroecosystems under study in the Indogangetic region have a depauperate earthworm fauna. This study provides evidence that agriculture intensification and soil sodicity can severely influence earthworm diversity, in which natural and less disturbed ecosystems had lower earthworm diversity. Predominance of endemic earthworms at all sites under study could probably be explained by barriers in dispersal of exotic species and a wider distribution of native species. The change in functional guild with the change in land use could be attributed to the change in the input rates and chemical characteristic of organic matter associated with varied land management practices. The ecological group studies revealed that earthworm communities of agro-ecosystems have lower species richness, fewer ecological groups and predominance of endogeics. Epigeic and anecic species are not widespread in the agriculture systems and their dependence on litter layer for survival implies that litter management practices must be implemented for their role of soil function to be important. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________