Impact of earthworms on the diversity of microarthropods in a vertisol (Martinique)

摘要: In a study of 15-year-old pasture in Martinique (French West Indies), abundance and organization microarthropod communities were correlated with the spatial distribution earthworm Polypheretima elongata (Megascolecidae). patches high density (133 individuals m–2), was significantly higher (80000 m–2) than few earthworms (31 worms m–2 49000 microarthropods m–2). The diversity followed similar pattern, Shannon index for Collembola being, respectively, 3.12 1.82 outside patches. These results suggest that mesofauna might be at least partly determined by activity larger invertebrates, as result dramatic effects latter group exerts upon soil structure, pore food resources.