Invasion of the tropical earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Rhinodrilidae, Oligochaeta) in temperate grasslands
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
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Abstract
The tropical earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus presents a broad distribution (56 countries from four continents) with climates that resemble the one in its native area of distribution. In invasive earthworms, it is generally assumed that temperature appears to limit the success of tropical exotic species in temperate climates. With the global climate change, the edge of the distribution range of this species could advance towards higher elevations (with lower temperatures) where no tropical species currently occur. The aim of this study was to evaluate the soil and climatic variables that could be closely associated with the distribution of P. corethrurus in four sites along an altitudinal gradient in central Veracruz, Mexico. We tested the hypothesis that the global migration of P. corethrurus appears to be limited only by temperature. Five sampling points (monoliths) were established at each of four sites along an altitudinal gradient: Laguna Verde (LV), Ingenio La Concepción (IC), Naolinco (NA) and Acatlán (AC) at 20, 982, 1542 y 1751 masl, respectively. Our results showed that the climate along the altitudinal gradient ranged from tropical to temperate. Ten earthworm species were found along the gradient, belonging to three families (Rhinodrilidae, Megascolecide and Lumbricidae). Soil properties are associated with the abundance of the earthworm community along the altitudinal gradient. P. corethrurus was recorded at three sites (LV, IC and NA) along the altitudinal gradient. Our results reveal that the premise that low temperature limits the distribution of P. corethrurus in not supported; that is, this species may survive and reproduce at the site NA with an average annual temperature of 17 ºC. These results suggested that P. corethrurus might be colonizing temperate environments.
Cite this as
2016. Invasion of the tropical earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Rhinodrilidae, Oligochaeta) in temperate grasslands. PeerJ Preprints 4:e1789v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.1789v1note This preprint is not peer-reviewed. You may wish to reference the subsequent peer-reviewed version of this article.
Author comment
This is a submisison to PeerJ for review. P. corethrurus might be colonizing temperate environments.
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Competing Interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Author Contributions
Diana Ortiz-Gamino conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Paulino Pérez-Rodríguez analyzed the data, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Angel I. Ortiz-Ceballos conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding data availability:
The raw data has been supplied as a Supplemental Dataset.
Funding
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) Mexico for a PhD scholarship (No. 251818) awarded to Diana Ortiz-Gamino. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
