Earthworms of the Hyrcanian Forests in Azerbaijan

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Abstract

The Hyrcanian forests are a relict woodland remaining since the Tertiary period, located in Iran and southeastern Azerbaijan. No publications devoted to earthworms in the Azerbaijani part of the Hyrcanian forests have been found. The purpose of the work is to study the fauna, population structure and biotopic distribution of earthworms in natural and disturbed biogeocenoses of lowland Hyrcanian forests of Azerbaijan. The material was collected in the Hyrcanian National Park. When processing the data, occurrence, average and relative abundance were used. Indices of dominance, biodiversity, evenness and synecological characteristics’ coefficients of variation were calculated. The core of the earthworm fauna of the Hyrcanian forests is formed by Lumbricidae with a Transcaucasian and Turanian distribution, as well as species of Mediterranean origin. In forest areas in which the tree layer edificator is chestnut oak, taxocenes are characterized by a stable species composition, small values of total abundance and significant variability in synecological indices. The structure of the meadow taxocenes depends on the localisation of the biogeocenosis: in the areas surrounded by oak forests, it is formed by forest species; in the fringe communities, an influx of the steppe zone inhabitants and a sharp increase in the total number of earthworms are noted; a larger percentage of the total number is made up of soil lumbricids. In the meadow taxocenes, litter species are not recorded; Mediterranean species are rare and occur in small numbers, but cosmopolitan species are present. In the secondary forest biogeocenoses, compared to meadow biogeocenoses, in the chorological structure of earthworm taxocenes, the representation of Mediterranean and confirmed cosmopolitan taxa tends to increase, while among morpho-ecological groups there is a trend for an increased representation of litter species. The structure of hornbeam, pecan and black walnut taxocenes is balanced and diverse, includes rare species, and has a smaller representation of autochthonous faunal elements.

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About the authors

I. B. Rapoport

Institute of Mountainous Territories' Ecology of the RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: iemt@mail.ru
Russian Federation, I. Armand St. 37a, Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, 360000

S. V. Shekhovtsov

Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the RAS

Email: iemt@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Akademik Lavrentyev Ave. 10, Novosibirsk, 630090

N. Yu. Snegovaya

Institute of Zoology of the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan; Western Caspian University

Email: iemt@mail.ru
Azerbaijan, Dr. 1128, Quarter 50, Baku, AZ1004; Istiglaliyyat St. 31, Baku, AZ1001

I. G. Kerimova

Institute of Zoology of the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan; Western Caspian University

Email: iemt@mail.ru
Azerbaijan, Dr. 1128, Quarter 50, Baku, AZ1004; Istiglaliyyat St. 31, Baku, AZ1001

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2. Fig. 1. Average abundance of morpho-ecological (a) and chorological (b) groups of earthworms. The names of biogeocenoses are as in Table 1.

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3. Fig. 2. Synecological characteristics of earthworm taxa inhabiting Hyrcanian forests: (a) - total taxa abundance, (b) - Simpson index, (c) - Shannon index, (d) - Pielu index, (e) - species richness.

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4. Fig. 3. Relative abundance of earthworms in Hyrkanian biogeocenoses: OX axis - biogeocenoses with dominance of chestnut oak in the tree layer 1, 2 - meadow biogeocenoses, 3 - Caucasian hornbeam, 4 - black walnut, 5 - pecan; OY axis - relative abundance, eq./m2.

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5. Fig. 4. Comparison of morpho-ecological and chorological structure of earthworm taxa by Ward's method (reliability 0.152).

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