ArticleScience (New York, N.Y.)2019
Global distribution of earthworm diversity.
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Article in Science (New York, N.Y.), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 92 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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92citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- The impact of multiple agricultural land uses in sustaining earthworm communities in agroecosystems - A global meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Changes in soil carbon mineralization related to earthworm activity depend on the time since inoculation and their density in soil.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Comparing soil-health- and species-based sensitivity distributions for metal risk assessment in Tianjin soils.iScience · 2026Article
- Afforestation and reforestation support coupled gains in soil life and carbon storage worldwide.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- Latitudinal diversity gradients of soil seed bank and aboveground vegetation in China.Plant diversity · 2026Article
- New Species Discoveries Refine Global Biodiversity Patterns.Ecology letters · 2026Article
- Study on the Community Characteristics of the Endogenous Microbiome in Earthworm Cocoons in Composting Systems with Different Base Materials.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Global dataset of soil eukaryotic communities created with a uniform protocol and long read sequencing.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Standardized Protocols for Soil Fauna Extraction and a Call for Cross-Lab Implementation.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Swabbing as a Non-Lethal DNA Collection Method for Earthworm Barcoding: Performance and Citizen Science Perspectives.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Greater trophic diversity of soil animal communities under agricultural land use and tropical climate.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- Earthworm gut's potential positive impact on carbon cycle by influencing carbohydrate metabolism and microbial genome size.Fundamental research · 2026Article
- Earthworms Enhance Global Soil Carbon Storage Through Microbial-Mineral Stabilization.Global change biology · 2026Article
- A new earthworm species of the genusZooKeys · 2026Article
- A soil food web approach to integrate soil fauna into multitrophic biogeochemistry.Communications earth & environment · 2026Review
- Earthworm Species from Diverse Ecological Groups Negatively Affect Enchytraeid Density in a Forest Ecosystem.Biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Biotic interactions and environmental filtering both determine earthworm alpha and beta diversity in tropical rainforests.Oecologia · 2025Article
- Elucidating the impact of soil's physico-chemical properties and seasonal variation on earthworm distribution in flood-prone areas of Harike wetland, India.Scientific reports · 2025Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
141 authors.
Helen R P PhillipsGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. helen.phillips@idiv.de.ORCID 0000-0002-7435-5934
Carlos A GuerraGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4917-2105
Marie L C BartzUniversidade Positivo, Curitiba, PR 81280-330, Brazil.
Maria J I BrionesDepartamento de Ecología y Biología Animal, Universidad de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.
George BrownEmbrapa Forestry, Colombo, PR 83411-000, Brazil.
Thomas W CrowtherCrowther Lab, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-5674-8913
Olga FerlianGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Konstantin B GongalskyA. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119071, Russia.
Johan van den HoogenCrowther Lab, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-6624-8461
Julia KrebsGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Alberto OrgiazziEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-8390-6654
Devin RouthCrowther Lab, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
Benjamin SchwarzBiometry and Environmental System Analysis, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany.
Elizabeth M BachDepartment of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Joanne BennettGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-7883-3577
Ulrich BroseGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Thibaud DecaënsCEFE, UMR 5175, CNRS-Univ Montpellier-Univ Paul-Valéry-EPHE-SupAgro Montpellier-INRA-IRD, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Birgitta König-RiesGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Michel LoreauCentre for Biodiversity Theory and Modeling, Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS, 09200 Moulis, France.
Jérôme MathieuSorbonne Université, CNRS, UPEC, Paris 7, INRA, IRD, Institut d'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, F-75005 Paris, France.
Christian MulderDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy.
Wim H van der PuttenDepartment of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6700 AB Wageningen, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-9341-4442
Kelly S RamirezDepartment of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6700 AB Wageningen, Netherlands.
Matthias C RilligBerlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), 14195 Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3541-7853
David RussellDepartment of Soil Zoology, Senckenberg Museum for Natural History Görlitz, 02826 Görlitz, Germany.
Michiel RutgersNational Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.
Madhav P ThakurDepartment of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6700 AB Wageningen, Netherlands.
Franciska T de VriesInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1012 WX Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Diana H WallDepartment of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
David A WardleAsian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 639798 Singapore.ORCID 0000-0002-0476-7335
Miwa AraiInstitute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba 305-8604, Japan.
Fredrick O AyukeDepartment of Land Resource Management and Agricultural Technology (LARMAT), College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, University of Nairobi, Nairobi 00625, Kenya.
Geoff H BakerCSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Robin BeauséjourDépartement de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke J1K 2R1, Canada.
José C BedanoGeology Department, FCEFQyN, ICBIA-CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council), National University of Río Cuarto, X5804 BYA Río Cuarto, Argentina.
Klaus BirkhoferDepartment of Ecology, Brandenburg University of Technology, 03046 Cottbus, Germany.
Eric BlanchartEco&Sols, University of Montpellier, IRD, CIRAD, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro, 34060 Montpellier, France.
Bernd BlosseyDepartment of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Thomas BolgerSchool of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Robert L BradleyDépartement de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke J1K 2R1, Canada.
Mac A CallahamUSDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Yvan CapowiezUMR 1114 "EMMAH," INRA, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon, France.
Mark E CaulfieldFarming Systems Ecology, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 AK Wageningen, Netherlands.
Amy ChoiFaculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3B3, Canada.
Felicity V CrottyInstitute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3EE, UK.
Andrea DávalosDepartment of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Darío J Diaz CosinBiodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Anahí DominguezGeology Department, FCEFQyN, ICBIA-CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council), National University of Río Cuarto, X5804 BYA Río Cuarto, Argentina.ORCID 0000-0003-4614-3413
Andrés Esteban DuhourLaboratorio de Ecología, Instituto de Ecología y Desarrollo Sustentable, Universidad Nacional de Luján, 6700 Luján, Argentina.
Nick van EekerenLouis Bolk Institute, 3981 AJ Bunnik, Netherlands.
Christoph EmmerlingDepartment of Soil Science, Faculty of Regional and Environmental Sciences, University of Trier, Campus II, 54286 Trier, Germany.
Liliana B FalcoCiencias Básicas, Instituto de Ecología y Desarrollo Sustentable-INEDES, Universidad Nacional de Luján, 6700 Luján, Argentina.ORCID 0000-0001-9097-2572
Rosa FernándezInstitute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
Steven J FonteDepartment of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Carlos FragosoBiodiversity and Systematic Network, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa 91070, Mexico.
André L C FrancoDepartment of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3294-6848
Martine FugèreDépartement de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke J1K 2R1, Canada.
Abegail T FusileroDepartment of Biological Science and Environmental Studies, University of the Philippines-Mindanao, Barangay Mintal, 8000 Davao City, Philippines.
Shaieste GholamiRazi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
Michael J GundaleForest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 90183 Umeå, Sweden.
Mónica Gutiérrez LópezBiodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-5509-1451
Davorka K HackenbergerDepartment of Biology, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
Luis M HernándezAgricultural Engineering, Postgraduate Program in Agroecology, Maranhão State University, 65055-310 São Luís, Brazil.
Takuo HishiFaculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, 949 Ohkawauchi, Shiiba 883-0402, Japan.
Andrew R HoldsworthMinnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Paul, MN 55155, USA.
Martin HolmstrupDepartment of Bioscience, Aarhus University, 8600 Silkeborg, Denmark.
Kristine N HopfenspergerBiological Sciences, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY 41099, USA.
Esperanza Huerta LwangaAgricultura Sociedad y Ambiente, Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Ciudad Industrial, Lerma, Campeche 24500, Mexico.
Veikko HuhtaDepartment of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
Tunsisa T HurissoDepartment of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Basil V IannoneSchool of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Madalina IordacheSustainable Development and Environment Engineering, Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael the 1st of Romania," 300645 Timisoara, Romania.
Monika JoschkoExperimental Infrastructure Platform, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany.
Nobuhiro KanekoFaculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Fukushima University, Kanayagawa 1, Fukushima City, Japan.
Radoslava KanianskaDepartment of Environmental Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Matej Bel University, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.
Aidan M KeithCentre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4AP, UK.
Courtland A KellyDepartment of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Maria L KerneckerLand Use and Governance, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany.
Jonatan KlaminderDepartment of Ecology and Environmental Science, Climate Impacts Research Centre, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden.
Armand W KonéUR Gestion Durable des Sols, UFR Sciences de la Nature, Université Nangui Abrogoua, 02 BP 801 Abidjan 02, Côte d'Ivoire.
Yahya KoochFaculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, 46417-76489, Noor, Mazandaran, Iran.
Sanna T KukkonenProduction Systems, Horticulture Technologies, Natural Resources Institute Finland, 40500 Jyväskylä, Finland.
H LalthanzaraDepartment of Zoology, Pachhunga University College, Aizawl 796001, India.
Daniel R LammelInstitute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1977-2831
Iurii M LebedevA. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119071, Russia.
Yiqing LiCollege of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, University of Hawai'i, Hilo, HI 96720, USA.
Juan B Jesus LidonBiodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Noa K LincolnTropical Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1070-4290
Scott R LossDepartment of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
Raphael MarichalUR Systèmes de pérennes, CIRAD, Univ Montpellier, 34398 Montpellier, France.
Radim MatulaDepartment of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 165 21 Prague, Czech Republic.
Jan Hendrik MoosDepartment of Soil and Environment, Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg, 79100 Freiburg, Germany.
Gerardo MorenoForestry School-INDEHESA, University of Extremadura, 10600 Plasencia, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-8053-2696
Alejandro Morón-RíosConservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, 24500 Campeche, Mexico.
Bart MuysDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
Johan NeirynckResearch Institute for Nature and Forest, 9500 Geraardsbergen, Belgium.
Lindsey NorgroveSchool of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, 3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland.
Marta NovoBiodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Visa NuutinenSoil Ecosystems, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), 31600 Jokioinen, Finland.
Victoria NuzzoNatural Area Consultants, 1 West Hill School Road, Richford, NY 13835, USA.
Mujeeb Rahman PDepartment of Zoology, Pocker Sahib Memorial Orphanage College, Tirurangadi, Malappuram, Kerala, India.
Johan PansuCSIRO Ocean and Atmosphere, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-0256-0258
Shishir PaudelDepartment of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
Guénola PérèsUMR SAS, INRA, Agrocampus Ouest, 35000 Rennes, France.
Lorenzo Pérez-CamachoEcology and Forest Restoration Group, Department of Life Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá De Henares, Spain.
Raúl PiñeiroComputing, ESEI, Vigo, Edf. Politécnico-Campus As Lagoas, 32004 Ourense, Spain.
Jean-François PongeAdaptations du Vivant, CNRS UMR 7179, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 91800 Brunoy, France.
Muhammad Imtiaz RashidCentre of Excellence in Environmental Studies, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-5178-4445
Salvador RebolloEcology and Forest Restoration Group, Department of Life Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá De Henares, Spain.
Javier Rodeiro-IglesiasDepartamento de Informática, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Informática, Universidad de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.
Miguel Á RodríguezGroup of Global Change Ecology and Evolution (GloCEE), Department of Life Sciences, University of Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Spain.
Alexander M RothDepartment of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55101, USA.
Guillaume X RousseauAgricultural Engineering, Postgraduate Program in Agroecology, Maranhão State University, 65055-310 São Luís, Brazil.
Anna RozenInstitute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, 30-087 Kraków, Poland.
Ehsan SayadRazi University, Kermanshah, Iran.ORCID 0000-0002-5086-5470
Loes van SchaikInstitute of Ecology, Technical University of Berlin, 10587 Berlin, Germany.
Bryant C ScharenbrochCollege of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA.
Michael SchirrmannEngineering for Crop Production, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), 14469 Potsdam, Germany.
Olaf SchmidtUCD Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Boris SchröderBerlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), 14195 Berlin, Germany.
Julia SeeberDepartment of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.ORCID 0000-0003-0189-7377
Maxim P ShashkovLaboratory of Ecosystem Modeling, Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Sciences, Russian Academy of Science, Pushchino 142290, Russia.
Jaswinder SinghPost Graduate Department of Zoology, Khalsa College Amritsar, Amritsar 143002, India.
Sandy M SmithJohn H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3B3, Canada.
Michael SteinwandterInstitute for Alpine Environment, Eurac Research, 39100 Bozen/Bolzano, Italy.
José A TalaveraDepartment of Animal Biology, University of La Laguna, 38200 La Laguna, Spain.
Dolores TrigoBiodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Jiro TsukamotoFaculty of Agriculture, Kochi University, Monobe Otsu 200, Nankoku 783-8502, Japan.
Anne W de ValençaFood and Agriculture, WWF-Netherlands, 3708 JB Zeist, Netherlands.
Steven J VanekDepartment of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Iñigo VirtoDpto. Ciencias, IS-FOOD, Universidad Pública de Navarra, Edificio Olivos-Campus Arrosadia, 31006 Pamplona, Spain.
Adrian A WackettSoil, Water and Climate, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
Matthew W WarrenEarth Innovation Institute, 98 Battery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA.
Nathaniel H WehrDepartment of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
Joann K WhalenNatural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue H9X 3V9, Canada.
Michael B WironenThe Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA 22203, USA.
Volkmar WoltersDepartment of Animal Ecology, Justus Liebig University, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
Irina V ZenkovaLaboratory of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Kola Science Centre, Institute of the North Industrial Ecology Problems, Apatity 184211, Russia.
Weixin ZhangKey Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China.ORCID 0000-0001-9656-9522
Erin K CameronDepartment of Environmental Science, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Nico EisenhauerGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0371-6720
Funding
Austrian Science Fund FWF T 441European Research Council 323020European Research Council 677232
Abstract
Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide.
Indexed as
BiodiversityOligochaetaAnimal DistributionAnimalsBiomassClimateEarth, PlanetEcosystemLinear ModelsModels, BiologicalSoilSoil
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