Ramos, Cynthia

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Characterization of earthworm taxonomic structure of coffee (Coffea arabica) plantations in Puerto Rico
(2010) Ramos, Cynthia; Alfaro, Mónica; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Sotomayor Ramírez, David; Acosta, Jaime; Department of Biology; Aponte, Nilda E.
The taxonomic structure of earthworms of coffee plantations at three different localities in Puerto Rico (in the municipalities of Las Marías, Lares and Jayuya), representing different soil types, was assessed. Organisms were manually sorted from 25 x 25 cm microplots. Eight earthworm species were identified: Onychochaeta borincana, Pontoscolex corethrurus, P. melissae, P. spiralis and Pontoscolex sp., which belong to the Glossoscolecidae family, and Amynthas gracilis, A. rodericensis, and a pheretimoid species, which belong to the Megascolecidae family. No clear patterns between soil properties and the taxonomic structure and density of earthworms at these coffee plantations were detected. Higher densitys of exotic species were found in the most disturbed areas, as expected. P. corethrurus was found in all the localities having shaded and sun coffee. Lares, the area of the second highest elevation, had the highest density of species. On the other hand, Jayuya had the highest species number. P. melissae, a rare species that had been reported from only three locations in Puerto Rico when it was described in 1991, was found only in Jayuya.