Comment on "Global distribution of earthworm diversity"

S W James; C Csuzdi; C-H Chang; N M Aspe; J J Jiménez; A Feijoo; M Blouin; P Lavelle

doi:10.1126/science.abe4629

Comment on "Global distribution of earthworm diversity"

Science. 2021 Jan 8;371(6525):eabe4629. doi: 10.1126/science.abe4629.

Authors

S W James¹, C Csuzdi², C-H Chang³, N M Aspe⁴, J J Jiménez⁵, A Feijoo⁶, M Blouin⁷, P Lavelle⁸

Affiliations

¹ Sustainable Living Department, Maharishi International University, Fairfield, IA 52557, USA. sjames@miu.edu plavelle48@gmail.com.
² Eszterházy Károly University, Eger, Hungary.
³ Department of Life Science and Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ College of Science and Environment, Mindanao State University at Naawan, 9023 Naawan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines.
⁵ ARAID, Soil Ecology, IPE-CSIC, Jaca 22700 (Huesca), Spain.
⁶ School of Environmental Sciences, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Complejo la Julita, Pereira AA 097, Colombia.
⁷ Agroécologie, AgroSup Dijon, INRAE, Université de Bourgogne Franche Comté, F-21000 Dijon, France.
⁸ Université Paris Sorbonne, IEES-Biodis, Paris, France. sjames@miu.edu plavelle48@gmail.com.

PMID: 33414190
DOI: 10.1126/science.abe4629

Abstract

Phillips et al (Reports, 25 October 2019, p. 480) incorrectly conclude that tropical earthworm communities are less diverse and abundant than temperate communities. This result is an artifact generated by some low-quality datasets, lower sampling intensity in the tropics, different patterns in richness-area relationships, the occurrence of invasive species in managed soils, and a focus on local rather than regional richness.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
Oligochaeta*
Soil

Substances

Soil