| Autor: |
Ake, Jason, Butcher, Loyd, Burkey, Elizabeth, Loughman, Zachary, Dann, Jeremiah |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Southeastern Biology; Jan-Dec2024, Vol. 71 Issue 1-4, p164-164, 1/4p |
| Abstrakt: |
The eastern United States is undergoing a wave of invasion by East Asian pheretimoid earthworms. The genus Amynthas is particularly prolific among them, with a widespread, continuously expanding range in North America and ecosystem-wide influences. Invasive populations tend to reach extreme population densities and fluctuate heavily in weekly, and up to yearly, timeframes. Gaining a deeper understanding of the dynamics by which populations spread or grow may be of great importance to developing effective management practices. Research was conducted in the summer of 2023 in an area of West Liberty's campus woods invaded by pheretimoids, presumably Amynthas, for several years. SADIE spatial analysis was used weekly to visualize the pheretimoid's distribution and showed clustered distributions (Ia > 1) in 5 of 7 survey weeks, 3 of which were significantly clustered (p-values < 0.05). Linear regression and multiple linear regression showed that none of the environmental variables measured were significant (p-value < 0.05) more than 1 out of 7 weeks. Principle component analysis could only explain 18.1% of the variance in earthworm density at its highest during any survey week. When compared to data from the previous summer, the average density of Amynthas declined approximately 96%. Our results do not indicate why the decline occurred and cannot explain the patterns of distribution, though low densities may weaken statistical analysis. Research in 2024 will continue surveying and expand the environmental variables being measured to create a better understanding of the dynamics at work in invasive worm populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
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