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Species richness and density of earthworms in western Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract The study was conducted in agricultural lands of five regions of western Uttar Pradesh, India, from 2006–2008 to identify species richness and density of earthworms in different seasons. Three species of earthworm’s viz., Metaphire posthuma (Vaill.), Lampito mauritii (Kinberg, 1867) and Perionyx excavatus (Perrier, 1872) from the Megascolecidae family and four species of Eutyphoeus waltoni (Michaelsen, 1907), E. gigas (Stephenson, 1917), E. orientalis (Beddard, 1883), and E. pharpingianus (Michaelsen, 1907) from Octochaetidae were identified and recorded. Bareilly of western Uttar Pradesh was identified as a density rich region of earthworms in all of the three seasons. It was species rich region of earthworms during winter and summer seasons too while the Agra region during the rainy season. Species richness and density of worms were assessed, the maximum in Bareilly and the minimum density in Saharanpur during peak winter months. However, the species richness of earthworms was found the least in three regions (Agra, Meerut, and Saharanpur) during winter months i.e. from November to February. In summers (March to June), both the density and species richness of earthworms were higher in Bareilly but their density was lower in Saharanpur. Interestingly, less species richness was noticed in Moradabad and Meerut regions with only three species. Results of taxonomic work indicated that the Bareilly region of western Uttar Pradesh has the maximum density of earthworms in all of the three seasons during the study; while the Agra region with more species richness during the rainy season. Variations in density and species richness of worms were discussed in the light of climatic conditions.