Earthworm diversity and ecosystem services in agriculture – Choosing appropriate taxon indicators and measurements

Abstract

Agriculture and biodiversity are strongly linked. Whilst agriculture is a main driver impacting biodiversity, farmers could benefit from ecosystem services linked to biodiversity. Hence, indicators of functional biodiversity are needed. However, finding correct indicator values is not trivial. Earthworms were sampled on nine German farms with a combined method. In total 3205 earthworms from 10 species were collected. Six measurements applicable as taxon indicators were calculated for the data.

Keywords: soil diversity, interpolation, extrapolation, biodiversity indices, biodiversity estimators