Abundance and Diversity of Earthworms in Managed and Non- Managed Fallow Lands of Calakmul Reserve of Campeche, Mexico

Abstract

In Mexico, the best preserved tropical rain forest is found in Calakmul Reserve, where fallow land management has been established. Fallow lands are developed as a consequence of a successional vegetation process after clearing the primary vegetation and milpa production. Forty-nine sites were studied, where 17 were managed fallow lands, 24 non-managed fallow lands, and 8 tropical rain forests. Earthworms were collected at the end of the raining season, and four monoliths of 25 × 25 × 30 cm were developed per site according to the TSBF method. We observed how Zapatadrilus siboney , a native species was dominant in managed and non-managed fallow lands. Earthworm’s total biomass and density were not significantly different between the managed and non-man aged fallow lands. Earthworm’s species richness was significantly low in non-managed fallow lands. We observed a strong correlation between earthworm density and richness with the age of the fallow lands (r 2 : 0.9 and 0.7; p < 0.05, respectively). The management type of the fallow land seems to affect earthworm biomasses (r 2 : 0.56; p < 0.05).