Exotic earthworm effects on hardwood forest floor, nutrient availability and native plants: a mesocosm study |
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Authors: | Cindy M Hale Lee E Frelich Peter B Reich John Pastor |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 1530 Cleveland Avenue North, 115 Green Hall, St Paul, MN 55108-6112, USA;(2) The Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, 5013 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, MN 55811-1442, USA |
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Abstract: | A greenhouse mesocosm experiment, representing earthworm-free North American Acer-dominated forest floor and soil conditions, was used to examine the individual and combined effects of initial invasion by
three European earthworm species (Dendrobaena octaedra, Lumbricus rubellus and Lumbricus terrestris) on the forest floor and upper soil horizons, N and P availability, and the mortality and biomass of four native understory
plant species (Acer saccharum, Aquilegia canadensis, Aralia racemosa, and Carex pensylvanica). All the three earthworm species combined caused larger impacts on most variables measured than any single earthworm species.
These included loss of O horizon mass, decreased thickness of the O horizon and increased thickness of the A horizon, and
higher availability of N and P. The latter finding differs from field reports where nutrients were less available after invasion,
and probably represents an initial transient increase in nutrient supply as earthworms consume and incorporate the O horizon
into the A horizon. Earthworms also increased mortality of plants and decreased total mesocosm plant biomass, but here the
impact of all the three earthworm species was no greater than that of L. terrestris and/or L. rubellus alone. This study corroborates field studies that European earthworm invasions alter North American forest ecosystem processes
by initiating a cascade of impacts on plant community composition and soil properties. |
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Keywords: | European earthworms Invasive species Lumbricidae Northern hardwood forests Plant mortality |
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