| In this study, earthworms were collected and identified at Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest (SFAEF) in the Piney Woods Ecoregion of Texas. Earthworm species abundance along with overstory and understory vegetation cover was evaluated in two broadly classified ecological areas (mesic slope and dry-mesic upland). Earthworms and understory vegetation data was collected from a total of 128 sampling plots (mesic slope= 68, dry-mesic upland=60).;Six earthworms from the native North American Diplocardia genus were collected at SFAEF; D. caroliniana Eisen 1899, D. eiseni Michaelsen 1894, D. komareki Gates 1977, D. macdowelli Murchie 1963, D. mississippiensis Smith 1924, D. ornata Gates 1943. Two earthworms from the native North American genus Bimastos were collected; B. heimburgeri Smith 1928 and B. longicinctus Smith and Gittins 1915. The collection of B. longicinctus is a new state record for Texas. Amynthas corticis Kinberg 1867 specimens were also collected. These represent a non-native genus from Southeast Asia.;Multivariate classification (TWINSPAN) and ordination, detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and principal component analysis (PCA), analyzed vegetation and earthworm species data. Overstory and understory vegetative communities with distinct environmental conditions were classified as dry-mesic mixed upland, mesic slope, and wet forested seeps which correlated with particular assemblages of earthworm species. ArcGIS 10 was then used to create spatial distribution maps of earthworm species throughout these delineated ecological habitats in the SFAEF. |
