Colour Dimorphism in Allolobophora chlorotica Sav. (Lumbricidae)

Satchell, J. E.

doi:10.2307/2817

Cited by 27 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Because no juveniles were found with green pigment, which is characteristic of A. chlorotica (Schwert 1990), and all endogeic adults but one belonged to the genus Aporrectodea, it is likely that all endogeic juveniles also belonged to the genus Aporrectodea. While a pink morph of A. chlorotica exist (Satchell 1967), possibly representing separate species (King et al 2008;Lowe and Butt 2008), we found no evidence from the literature that it is present in the Chicago region. Lumbricus rubellus was the only epi-endogeic earthworm species sampled in our study.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 52%

A Simple, Safe, and Effective Sampling Technique for Investigating Earthworm Communities in Woodland Soils: Implications for Citizen Science

Iannone

Umek

Wise³

et al. 2012

Natural Areas Journal

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 52%

A Simple, Safe, and Effective Sampling Technique for Investigating Earthworm Communities in Woodland Soils: Implications for Citizen Science

Iannone

Umek

Wise³

et al. 2012

Natural Areas Journal

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“…Previous ecological (Lowe & Butt 2007) and cross‐breeding experiments (Satchell 1967; Lowe & Butt in press) suggested that the pink and green morphs of Allo. chlorotica may each represent a distinct species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1955; Satchell 1967). It is known that the two morphs have distinct ecological preferences linked to soil moisture content (Lowe & Butt 2007) and controlled crosses between the two morphs produce sterile F 1 hybrids (Satchell 1967; Lowe & Butt in press). Thus, it has been suggested that the two morphs may represent distinct species (Sims & Gerard 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opening a can of worms: unprecedented sympatric cryptic diversity within British lumbricid earthworms

2008

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Earthworms play a major role in many aspects of soil fertility, food web ecology and ecosystem functioning, and hence are frequently the subjects of, for example, ecological and toxicological research. Our aim was to examine the genetic structure of common earthworm species, to identify cryptic lineages or species that may be distinct ecotypes or biotypes (and hence confound current research based upon morphotypes) and to try to explain the massive cryptic diversity that eventually emerged. We demonstrated that species such as Allolobophora chlorotica, Aporrectodea longa, Aporrectodea rosea and Lumbricus rubellus all comprise highly divergent lineages with species-level divergence at the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene. In Allo. chlorotica alone, we found 55 haplotypes for COI, with 35 of these being found in pink and 20 in green morph worms. There were no cases of the two colour morphs sharing COI haplotypes. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial COI and 16S genes showed the presence of five highly divergent lineages, suggesting the presence of multiple cryptic species within Allo. chlorotica. There was no clear geographical pattern to lineage distribution and many populations were polymorphic for both mitochondrial DNA lineage and colour morph. Amplified fragment length polymorphism results, based on two primer combinations, were broadly congruent with mitochondrial DNA results with one significant exception. Despite showing over 14% divergence at COI, amplified fragment length polymorphism markers showed that the two green morph lineages may be interbreeding and therefore represent a single taxon. The cryptic diversity revealed by these results has profound consequences for all areas of earthworm research.

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“…Lumbricus rubellus is found in a wide range of habitats, but mainly those with a high organic and soil moisture content (Sims & Gerard 1985). The green morph of A. chlorotica is typical of wet soil and is replaced by its unpigmented form in drier conditions (Satchell 1967a; Sims & Gerard 1985). The other most abundant earthworm species in traditionally flooded grassland, Octolasion tyrtaeum and Eiseniella tetraedra , were less frequently found in samples taken from unflooded grasslands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1976; Barnard & Thompson 1985). The green morph of Allolobophora chlorotica has been found to display a cryptic advantage over its unpigmented pink morph (Satchell 1967a), and this would presumably confer a selective advantage over most other earthworm species during periods of bird predation. Lumbricus castaneus , which was the only earthworm species to leave the soil regularly and move through the floodwater above it, would be highly vulnerable to predation by waterbirds such as gulls, grey herons Ardea cinerea (L.) shoveler Anas clypeata (L.) and mallard Anas platyrhynchos (L.) in natural flood conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of flooding lowland wet grassland on soil macroinvertebrate prey of breeding wading birds

Ausden

Sutherland

James

2001

Journal of Applied Ecology

141

106

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Summary1. Lowland wet grassland in western Europe is often managed for breeding wading birds, especially lapwing Vanellus vanellus , redshank Tringa totanus , snipe Gallinago gallinago and black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa . Recommended conservation management often entails introducing winter flooding, and in Britain there is government funding to encourage this through the Environmentally Sensitive Area scheme. 2. Soil macroinvertebrates are important prey for breeding wading birds on lowland wet grassland. This study quantified the response of soil macroinvertebrates to flooding, their ability to survive in flooded grassland, and changes in the abundance and physical availability of soil macroinvertebrates for feeding wading birds as flood water subsides. 3. Unflooded grasslands contained high biomasses of soil macroinvertebrates, comprising mainly Tipulidae larvae and earthworm species that are widespread in pastures. Grasslands with a long history of winter flooding contained much lower biomasses of soil macroinvertebrates, comprising mainly a limited range of semi-aquatic earthworm species. 4. Introducing winter flooding to previously unflooded grassland greatly reduced soil macroinvertebrate biomass. This was mainly due to the majority of earthworms vacating the soil soon after the onset of flooding. However, when earthworms were artificially confined in flooded soils, most species were capable of surviving periods of at least 120 days continual submergence. Winter flooding also expelled large numbers of overwintering arthropods from the soil. 5. Soil macroinvertebrates were slow to recolonize winter-flooded grassland when it was re-immersed in spring. Consequently, prey biomass for breeding wading birds remained low in areas that had been flooded during the preceding winter. However, winter flooding probably benefited breeding snipe by helping keep the soil soft enough for them to probe for prey. It also probably benefited breeding lapwings and redshank by helping keep the sward short and open enough for them to feed in during the latter part of their breeding season. Pools of winter flood water that remained in spring and early summer also provided a source of aquatic invertebrate prey for breeding wading birds. 6. We suggest that the best feeding conditions for breeding snipe will be provided by keeping the upper soil soft enough for them to probe in but without reducing soil macroinvertebrate biomass by flooding it beforehand. Optimal conditions for breeding lapwings and redshank will probably be provided by creating a mosaic of unflooded grassland, winter-flooded grassland and shallow pools.

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Colour Dimorphism in Allolobophora chlorotica Sav. (Lumbricidae)

Cited by 27 publications

References 3 publications

A Simple, Safe, and Effective Sampling Technique for Investigating Earthworm Communities in Woodland Soils: Implications for Citizen Science

A Simple, Safe, and Effective Sampling Technique for Investigating Earthworm Communities in Woodland Soils: Implications for Citizen Science

Opening a can of worms: unprecedented sympatric cryptic diversity within British lumbricid earthworms

The effects of flooding lowland wet grassland on soil macroinvertebrate prey of breeding wading birds

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