Puerto Rico | Artículos de revistas

Preliminary Estimate of Earthworm Abundance and Species Richness in Spathodea campanulata Beauv. Forests in Northern Puerto Rico

dc.creatorLugo, Ariel E.
dc.creatorAbelleira, Oscar J.
dc.creatorBorges, Sonia
dc.creatorColón, Lauren J.
dc.creatorMeléndez, Syndi
dc.creatorRodríguez, Mariela A.
dc.date2014-05-07T19:11:25Z
dc.date2014-05-07T19:11:25Z
dc.date2006-12
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-17T16:54:08Z
dc.date.available2017-03-17T16:54:08Z
dc.identifier0008-6452
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10586 /383
dc.identifier.urihttp://repositorioslatinoamericanos.uchile.cl/handle/2250/647503
dc.descriptionThe alien tree species Spathodea campanulata forms monodominant stands in abandoned agricultural lands in Puerto Rico. In July 2005, we excavated three replicate randomly located soil pits (25 by 25 by 30 cm) in each of six stands of Spathodea. Three of the stands were located in the moist alluvial geoclimatic zone and three were in the moist karst geoclimatic zone, all in the north coast of Puerto Rico. We examined all the soil by hand, sampled, and counted all the earthworms, determined their fresh weight, and identified them to species. Earthworms were absent from all nine pits in the karst forest. Earthworm density in the alluvial forest averaged 84/m2 or 279/m3,representing an earthworm fresh weight of 47 g/m2 or 157 g/m3. Four species of earthworms were present in our sampling: Onychochaeta borincana, Pontoscolex spiralis,P. cynthiae, and P. corethrurus. Of these, P. corethrurus is an alien, and the other three are native species. Pontoscolex spiralis usually lives in wet conditions, while O. borincana and P. corethrurus are indicators of disturbed conditions. The density and biomass of earthworms in the alluvial forest are comparable to density and biomass in other Puerto Rican forests. The absence of earthworms in the same kinds of stands in karst forests may imply either a clumped distribution of earthworms in those forests or else the animals were located deeper in the soil profile.
dc.descriptionCollege of Arts and Sciences University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
dc.languageen
dc.publisherCaribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 42, No. 3, 325-330, 2006
dc.subjectalien species
dc.subjectearthworms
dc.subjectalluvial forests
dc.subjectkarst forests
dc.subjectSpathodea campanulata
dc.subjectPuerto Rico
dc.subjectland cover change
dc.titlePreliminary Estimate of Earthworm Abundance and Species Richness in Spathodea campanulata Beauv. Forests in Northern Puerto Rico
dc.typeArtículos de revistas


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