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Introduction
My main interest right now is to describe several new earthworm species from Mexico; also I'm trying to clarify the relationships of these worms.
Publications
Publications (144)
We launch an initiative to build a collection of pictures of earthworm species with good identification, both in the field and in the lab. We use iNaturalist to reach non scientists and also to improve iNat's computer vision engine.
A new Oligochaete worm genus with a single species is described from tropical rain forests of Southern Mexico. Lacandodrilus paludosus Fragoso & Rojas gen. et sp. nov., found in sandy and acid poor swampy soils, presented a characteristic morphology of semiaquatic oligochaetes. The new taxon is holandric, with male pores and ovaries in segment 13,...
Human activities cause major ecological changes by reshuffling the spatial distribution of species. The extent to which this process affects belowground biota is a critical issue because soil organisms play a key role in ecosystem functioning and maintenance. However, the magnitude of the reshuffling of soil species remains unknown so far because o...
Aim
Macroinvertebrates comprise a highly diverse set of taxa with great potential as indicators of soil quality. Communities were sampled at 3,694 sites distributed world‐wide. We aimed to analyse the patterns of abundance, composition and network characteristics and their relationships to latitude, mean annual temperature and rainfall, land cover,...
Between 2005, 2014–2017, we studied six Elegant Euphonia (Euphonia elegantissima) nests from two sites (urban and suburban) in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz. They were located in a macadamia tree crown, under epiphytic bromeliads, and under hanging fern and Euphorbia pots. The two nests we extracted and measured (7.2 x 7.5 x 5.6 cm; 10.1 x 8.6 x 11...
Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provid...
Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provid...
Worldwide, two of the most harmful invasive ants typical of disturbed sites are Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) and Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger). Both are natives of the Neotropics and are widely distributed all over the tropics. Within its original geographic range, there are few data on its abundance and potential damage to natural ecosystems....
A checklist of earthworms from the state of Morelos is presented. Nine species were found, two natives and seven exotics. Sampling in the state has been scarce, and worms in most of the remaining temperate and tropical natural forests are unknown.
Soil properties are the product of current land use as well as legacies of historic use. Disentangling these effects is particularly challenging in tropical landscapes where plot-level land use history consists of varied sequences of uses punctuated by periods of abandonment. Here, we studied the soils of 63 plots in three sites of the Los Tuxtlas...
Pontoscolex corethrurus (Müller, 1857) is an invasive tropical earthworm, globally distributed. It reproduces through parthenogenesis, which theoretically results in low genetic diversity. The analysis of the population structure of P. corethrurus using molecular markers may significantly contribute to understanding the ecology and reproductive sys...
Aim
Latitudinal clines of species diversity are widely documented in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, the processes governing species diversity gradients in riverine ecosystems have not been well‐studied. We addressed this issue by comparing species diversity between riverine aquatic and terrestrial earthworm groups (genus Sparganophilus...
Protozapotecia unamensis sp.nov. Fragoso and Rojas is described from Los Dinamos fir forest of south México
City. The new species is differentiated from the other species of the genus by combining the presence of prostatic pores
in segments 18 and 20 with seminal vesicles in 9 and 12. The new species is a soil dwelling endogeic-geophagous
earthworm...
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, a...
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, a...
This PDF file includes:
Materials and Methods
Supplementary Text
Figs. S1 to S6
Tables S1 to S4
References
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, a...
This PDF file includes:
Materials and Methods
Supplementary Text
Figs. S1 to S6
Tables S1 to S4
References
This PDF file includes:
Materials and Methods
Supplementary Text
Figs. S1 to S6
Tables S1 to S4
References
Three new Acanthodrilinae species from the states of Oaxaca, Tabasco and Chiapas in southern Mexico are described, Diplotrema oaxacana sp. nov., Diplotrema tabascensis sp. nov., and Diplotrema kaxyebensis sp. nov., respectively. D. oaxacana sp. nov. is characterized by the presence of genital setae in segments 8 and 9, a spermathecal ampulla transv...
Prof. Pietro Omodeo (University of Siena, Italy), the world-renowned earthworm taxonomist and evolutionary biologist,
was born in Cefalù, Sicily, Italy on the 27th September, 1919. He celebrates his 100th birthday in 2019 and members of
the international community of earthworm taxonomists salute him with Petroscolex centenarius gen. et sp. nov., a...
Two earthworm species from central Mexico are described: Protozapotecia acaxetlensis sp. nov. and Protozapotecia oya-metlensis sp. nov. Delimitation of species was supported by morphological and molecular evidence. The two new species differ from the other species of Protozapotecia by the position of the prostates in segments 18 and 20. This morpho...
Two acanthodriline new species from the states of Tabasco and Chiapas in southern Mexico are described, Diplotrema chajulensis sp. nov. and Lavellodrilus sheylae sp.nov. Diplotrema chajulensis sp. nov. has spermathecae where the ampulla inserts at a right angle from the duct and the diverticulum continues the main axis; it is distinguished from oth...
In mexico, native earthworms associate to central fir forests, are threatened by climate change, habitat destruction and presence of exotic european worms
El proyecto Conservación y Manejo Sostenible de la Biodiversidad en el Suelo se lleva a cabo desde enero de 2013 en la región de Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz y tiene como objetivo conocer y promover la biodiversidad del suelo en el trópico, identificando e incentivando prácticas agrícolas que mejoren sosteniblemente sus funciones ecológicas. Las metas del...
Four new Cuban species of the family Acanthodrilidae are described from west (Protozapotecia angelesae sp.nov.), center (Protozapotecia centralis sp.nov., Protozapotecia cubensis sp.nov.) and east (Trigaster setarmata sp.nov.) regions. The new species are closely related to northeast and east Mexico (Protozapotecia and Zapatadrilus) and Puerto Rico...
Three new species of the earthworm genus Zapatadrilus are described from Tamaulipas, Mexico: Zapatadrilus aurelius sp. nov., Zapatadrilus huastecus sp. nov., and Zapatadrilus montezumensis sp. nov. Delimitation of the new species was supported by morphological and molecular (genetic distances) evidence. Diagnostic characters of the three new specie...
A new acanthodriline earthworm species, Lavellodrilus notosetosus sp. nov., is described from tropical rain forests of southern Mexico. The new species is placed within the genus Lavellodrilus by the presence of mesial spermathecal pores.
It is separated from other species of the genus by the dorsal location of setae cd in most of the body, last he...
In order to assess earthworm communities influenced by successional changes in tropical subdeciduous forest (TSF), we studied several secondary forests developed after annual crops in southern Yucatan (Mexico). All these secondary TSF were derived from slash-and-burn (S&B) Mayan shifting agricultural practices. Accordingly, four repetitions of four...
The study of earthworm communities in an intercropping system (MIAF) was carried out in the central and southern states of Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico. The aim was to know the species present in MIAF systems, to identify differences between a control nearby forest and MIAF’s, as well as differences within MIAF’s between arboreal and crop rows. The st...
Se realizó un análisis de las comunidades de lombrices de tierra del sistema de cultivo milpa intercalada con árboles frutales (MIAF), en los estados de Puebla y Oaxaca. El objetivo fue conocer las especies presentes en el sistema, las diferencias entre un bosque control y los sistemas MIAF, y al interior de este entre la zona de milpa y la arbórea...
• Context
Understanding the biological mechanisms related to plant response to disturbance is essential for predicting the changes in the structure of plant communities resulting from disturbance.
• Aims
The aims of this study are to identify the regeneration traits linked to the response to disturbance of tree species of a montane cloud forest in...
Most of Mexican coastal dunes from the Gulf of Mexico have been severely disturbed by human activities. In the state of Veracruz, the La Mancha Reserve is a very well preserved coastal community of sand dunes, where plant successional gradients are determined by topography. In this study we assessed species richness, diversity and faunal compositio...
The genus Diplocardia has only two described species with prostatic pores in segments
20 and 22: Diplocardia keyesi (Eisen, 1896) and Diplocardia texensis Smith, 1924. The first was
collected more than 100 years ago in North Baja California (México), whereas the second has
been found in the states of Arizona, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virgi...
We mapped morphological characters on a Bayesian molecular phylogenetic tree (made
from sequences of COI, 658 bp). Sampled taxa included several Mexican acanthodriline species
with multiple gizzards of the holoic genera Diplocardia, Protozapotecia and Zapotecia and the
meroic Zapatadrilus. Results indicate that these lineages exhibit a complex evol...
Abstract. An update of the Mexican earthworm fauna points out 102 described species, 51 natives and 51 exotics. In the IEOL collection of earthworms of the INECOL, there are non-described species (c. 40 spp.), which gives a conservative figure of 91 native species. We estimate that the native species richness should be around 130 species, although...
Three new species from the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas are added to the acanthodrilid earthworm genus Ramiellona, R. microscolecina sp. nov., R. tojolabala sp. nov. and R. teapaensis sp. nov. They belong to a group of species with penial setae and last pair of hearts in segment 12. All are holandric and the spermathecae have either a flat...
Hydrocarbon contamination is known to reduce the soil microfauna, but little is known about the sensibility of endogeic earthworms towards it. The aim of this study was to investigate how the earthworm biomass and abundance was affected by a petroleum contamination. Endogeic earthworms were studied in an anthrosol soil contaminated with hydrocarbon...
Hydrocarbon contamination is known to reduce the soil microfauna, but little is known about the sensibility of endogeic earthworms towards it. The aim of this study was to investigate how the earthworm biomass and abundance was affected by a petroleum contamination. Endogeic earthworms were studied in an anthrosol soil contaminated with hydrocarbon...
Changes in the amount of soil fertility (organic matter-OM, nitrogen- N) and soil macro and mesofauna were monitored in slopes (T) and flat clay banks (B) rehabilitated with trees (A) and grasses (P) of the Cuautlapan quarry, in Central Veracruz. Fertility was evaluated over a period of 16 years, whereas soil biota was monitored two and five years...
Results of this book show that after eight years, rehabilitation treatments
with trees recover mostly soil fertility, soil macroinvertebrates and species of
reptiles and amphibians. Birds and mammals responded more at the
landscape level than to a single treatment. Whereas the colonization of plants
from neighboring forests was slow, recovery perce...
Alley cropping; Maize intercropped with fruit trees (MIFT), is a system of technified agro forestry cultivation of central Mexico. MIFT is one of the most feasible cultivation systems to show the biodiversity richness of the country; however, the effect this system exercises on the soil organisms has not been measured, whereby the macrofauna, mites...
En esta introducción se presenta la cronología de actividades y artículos que culminaron con la publicación del último libro de Darwin. Se trata de explicar porque se tardó tanto en publicar este libro a pesar que las primeras observaciones las presentó cuando era aún muy joven. Se hace un análisis de las contribuciones de Darwin en este libro, de...
The meaning of the word monitoring, and its use in the conservation and
management of the environment is analyzed. In order to define the term
“ecological monitoring”, the meaning of ecology and the broad fields it covers
is discussed. A brief explanation of ecological succession is also included.
Finally an overview of each book chapter is present...
In order to evaluate the scale of spatial patterns in edaphic mesofauna in a pasture-forest
gradient, a collection of soil samples was obtained from a transect, followed by faunal extraction, counting
and sorting. Only Sternorrhyncha (except Coccidae) and Coccidae geostatistical analysis showed
spatial dependence within the scale 25-500 cm. Results...
The neotropical landscapes of Colombia’s Andean region are characterized by a mosaic of agroecosystems
presenting a range of vegetational cover for which soil fauna adaptation is still unknown. To analyze
the diversity and abundance of earthworm species in relation to changes in selected soil physical and
chemical parameters (bulk density, C stock,...
En este trabajo se presentan un compendio sobre la diversidad de los organismos que viven dentro del suelo, con datos conocidos y esperados a nivel mundial y para México. Asimismo se presentan algunos ejemplos de los increíbles patrones que ocurren en el suelo en términos de diversidad, abundancia y biomasa.
Populations of the earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa were analyzed on three sampling dates (maize emergence in spring, crop harvest in autumn and post-harvest, in winter) and two soil depths (0-15, 16-30 cm) in four tillage systems: 1) shallow tillage, 2) disk ploughing, 3) ripper decompaction (one pass) and 4) ripper decompaction (two passes). The...
The earthworm fauna of Los Tuxtlas and adjacent regions includes 21 species, nine natives (Diplotrema sp.nov., Kaxdrilus parcus, Kaxdrilus sylvicola, Lavellodrilus parvus, Phoenicodrilus taste, Ramiellona mexicana, Ramiellona sp.nov.1, Ramiellona sp.nov.15 and Ramiellona sp.nov. 18) and 12 exotics (Amynthas gracilis, Dichogaster affinis, Dichogaste...
Se presentan dos casos de invasiones dentro del suelo en México, el de la lombriz exótica Pontoscolex corethrurus y el de la hormiga nativa Solenopsis geminata. P. corethrurus es una especie ampliamente distribuida en todo el mundo y la más común en nuestro país, tanto en ecosistemas naturales como en sistemas perturbados. Se muestra que las comuni...
Este capitulo presenta los resultados de la investigación agroecológica y
etnológica sobre el papel y el conocimiento campesino de las lombrices de tierra,
en potreros tropicales. La investigación fue llevada a cabo en cuatro países con
climas tropicales: México, Perú, India y El Congo. Para el caso de México se llevó
a cabo una investigación espec...
The objective of the present research was to study the particle of organic matter and the presence of earthworm under conservation and traditional tillage during winter and spring seasons. The sampling site was experimental field of FIRA in Villadiego, Guanajuato. The soil and earthworm sampling was carried out in monoliths of 25x25x30 cm (sidexsid...
An inventory of soil macrofauna was carried out at three communities around the Santa Marta volcano in the Biosphere reserve of Los Tuxtlas Veracruz. The windows were López Mateos (LM) (75% forest cover), San Fernando (SF) (50% forest cover) and Venustiano Carranza (VC) (25% forest cover). The aim of the study was to examine the impact of land use...
A new ocnerodrilid earthworm genus is described (Chacdrilus gen. nov.) from three localities in southern Mexico. Chacdrilus differs from all the genera in the family by lacking extramural calciferous glands and by the presence of intramural calciferous lamellae within pockets in the ventral esophageal wall of segment 9. Notwithstanding that the lac...
This paper presents the results of a decomposition experiment performed in a secondary chronosequence of tropical montane
cloud forest in Mexico. The experiment was designed to explore whether the age of the forest influences the decomposition
process and macroinvertebrate community independently of the quality of the decomposition resources. Fresh...
This paper tests whether individual trees in a mature forest stand influence the process of litter decomposition and the macroinvertebrate
communities in the soil underneath their canopies, as a result of species-specific characteristics. A field decomposition
experiment was performed in a mature forest stand of tropical montane cloud forest in Mex...
In Latin America (LA), there are relatively few studies on the biology, distribution of native and
exotic species and ecological importance of earthworms in various ecosystems (especially
native vegetation). Consequently, the potential use of earthworms as a natural resource
continues to be limited in LA.
Presently, 960 earthworm species are known...
This chapter presents a synthesis of the ecological and taxonomic studies performed on
earthworms in the Caribbean, highlighting the limitations, challenges and perspectives of
earthworm research in the region. The records included are from research performed by the
authors and from the bibliography. The region has 10 families, 33 genera and 125 ea...
Taxonomic studies in Mexico began in 1895-1900, although most descriptions occurred during the second half of the 20th Century. Presently 98 described species are known from Mexico, of which 47 are native and 51 exotic; when 37 new undescribed species are added, the total number of species increases to 135. Most species belong to the Acanthodrilida...
This chapter presents for this fi rst time, the diversity of native and exotic earthworm species of Surinam, French Guyana, Guyana, Venezuela and Paraguay and updates the species list of Central America. The number of native and exotic species known in each of these countries is, respectively: Surinam, 9 and 5; French Guyana, 23 and 9; Guyana, 7 an...
Earthworms and mulch can have positive or negative effects on mycorrhizae (fungus-roots) and N uptake by plants. In the present
experiment, maize plants were grown under greenhouse conditions with or without tropical earthworms (Balanteodrilus pearsei) and mulch of velvetbean (Mucuna pruriens var. utilis). The formation of vesicles and hyphae of ar...
The environmental and vegetation shifts associated with logging disturbance and secondary succession in Tropical Montane Cloud Forests have been studied in detail, however little is known about the consequences that these changes have for the soil system. The present study was undertaken to determine the impact of selective logging and subsequent s...
Many Mexican and Central American farmers use the legume cover crop Mucuna pruriens (velvetbean) to reduce weed growth, enhance soil fertility, and reduce the use of irrigation, tillage and herbicides. This cropping system can also maintain abundant native earthworm populations, such as of the endogeic species Balanteodrilus pearsei, although the f...
Two new species ofthe earthwonn genus Balanteodrilus, B. psammophilus sp.nov. and B. extremus sp.nov., are described from four localities of eastern Mexico. The two new species differ from B. pearsei, the single species ofthe genus, by the posterior displacement ofthe single pair ofprostatic pores to segments 20 (B. psammophilus) and 21 (B. extremu...
The most conspicuous biological invasions in terrestrial ecosystems have been by exotic plants, insects and vertebrates. Invasions by exotic earthworms, although not as well studied, may be increasing with global commerce in agriculture, waste management and bioremediation. A number of cases has documented where invasive earthworms have caused sign...
Se presenta el listado delas lombrices detierra de la región de la mancha. Los sitios estudiados incluyeron selvas medianas y agroecosistemas diversos. Con mayor detalle se presenta el análisis de las comunidades en selvas y en pastizales. En las selvas dominaron las nativas mientras que en los patizales fueron las exóticas. En los pastizales un gr...
We test the hypothesis that secondary succession in Tropical Montane Cloud Forest (TMCF) in Mexico is accompanied by an increase in the spatial structuring of litter resources, soil nutrient concentrations and the soil macroinvertebrate community at a within-plot scale (5–25m). This increased spatial structuring is expected because secondary succes...
Earthworms often form spatially structured populations characterised by alternate clusters of either low or high density. This study compared various soil properties and herbaceous plant biomass between areas of high and low earthworm density (i.e. patches and gaps) in a tropical grassland (la Mancha, Veracruz, Mexico). We aimed at identifying thos...
Native and exotic earthworm species were inventoried in natural and managed ecosystems in Tabasco, southeastern Mexico. Twenty-four sites were evaluated: 17 agroecosystems and 7 natural systems. In our sampling we implemented the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility protocol, and depending on landuse, 10 to 50 monoliths of 25 × 25 × 30 cm were compl...
The Andean mountain systems are characterized by their fragility and susceptibility to anthropogenic degradation; which favors the extinction of native earthworm species and allows for the colonization of exotic earthworm species. To our knowledge, this is the first study of earthworm communities from Andean Andisol and Inceptisols (soil orders) in...
The effect of light fractions of organic matter of different origin, on the growth and reproduction of the mesohumic endogeic earthworm Polypheretima elongata, has been tested in laboratory cultures. Earthworms were fed with savannah soil from “La Mancha” Veracruz (Mexico), added with different amounts of fresh or composted Mucuna pruriens var. uti...
The aim of this study was to test the influence of food quality (FQ) (soil, soil+maize stubble and soil+the cover crop Mucuna pruriens), soil moisture (SM) (25%, 33% and 42%) and the presence of the earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus on the growth and reproduction of the tropical earthworm species Balanteodrilus pearsei. The experiment was carried o...
A large area in the Gulf Coast region of Mexico is pastureland, generally dominated by native grass species, yet little is known of the physical, chemical and biological characteristics and limitations of soils beneath them. Furthermore, nothing is known of the effect of converting native to introduced grasses on the soil ecosystem in Mexican pastu...
Soil macrofauna are sensitive to land use changes and this may have implications to soil functioning. The impact of the conversion of native ecosystems into extensive or intensive pastures on soil macrofauna were assessed with a standardised methodology in two neotropical phytogeographical regions, i.e. a tropical savanna area (Eastern Plains of Co...
Earthworm populations were studied in three tropical agroecosystems of southern Mexico: improved maize with a Mucuna pruriens cover crop (MM), continuous conventional maize (CM) and pastures (P). Three replicates and six monoliths were sampled in each agroecosystem. Three earthworm species were found, two native (Balanteodrilus pearsei, Larsonidril...
In order to evaluate the effect of different plant residues on growth and reproduction of two ecologically different tropical earthworms, cultures of the endogeic Pontoscolex corethrurus and the epigeic Amynthas corticis were maintained in microcosm laboratory experiments. Fresh leaves of mucuna (Mucuna pruriens) and cacahuatillo (Araquis pintoi),...
This survey o f95 new co11ection sites increases the number ofknown species ofearthworms reported from Bermuda from 8 to 15, with the addition of: Mieroseolex dubius (Acanthodrilidae), Aporreetodea rosea, Aporreetodea turgida, Dendrodrilus rubidus (Lumbricidae), Amynthas hupeiensis, Amynthas minimus, Amynthas morrisi (Megascolecidae), and Eukerria...