Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Faunistic similarity and endemism of earthworms in east mediterranean region

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biodiversity and Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The analysis presents earthworm distribution in eight designated tectonic units (C—Cyprus, EP—East Pondites, ET—East Taurus block, Sc—Sakarya continent, Kb—Kırşehir block, L—the Levant, TM—Taurus–Menderes block, WP—West Pondites) in the East Mediterranean region (EM). It represents a full list of earthworm species (N = 81) of the region and reveals significant faunal similarities between Sc + WP, and between Kb + TM. The new Sc + WP unit is characterized by the presence of archaic (Spermophorodrilus) as well as modern earthworm fauna. In contrast, the second newly established Kb + TM unit is characterized by poorly presented earthworm autochthonous fauna and by a lack of endemic species. The analysis done on the species list (N = 73) representing the autochthonous family Lumbricidae showed statistically supported separation of L and EP between themselves and from other designated units. The Levant, part of the Arabian tectonic plate, is characterized by a high level of endemism in ancient (Healyella) and modern (Dendrobaena, Perelia) genera, and by the lack of archaic genera. The EP harbors unique species representing archaic (Eophila), ancient (Healyella), and modern (Allolobophora, Aporrectodea, Dendrobaena and Eisenia) earthworm genera in the EM. The analysis also indicates origin of earthworm fauna in TM and faunistic relationships among the designated units. Clearly, the present-day division of the EM earthworm fauna shows recognizable influences of tectonic history.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Csuzdi Cs, Zicsi A, Mısırlıoğlu M (2006) An annotated checklist of the earthworm fauna of Turkey (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae). Zootaxa 1175:1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Csuzdi Cs, Pavlíček T, Mısırlıoğlu M (2007) Earthworms (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae, Criodrilidae, Acanthodrilidae) of the Hatay Province, Turkey, with description of three new lumbricids. Acta zool hung 53:347–361

    Google Scholar 

  • Csuzdi Cs, Pavlíček T, Nevo E (2008) Is Dichogaster bolaui (Michaelsen, 1891) the first domicolous earthworm species? Eur J Soil Biol 44:198–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fattorini S (2007) Levels of endemism are not necessarily biased by the co-presence of species with different range sizes: a case study of Vilenkin and Chikatunov’s models. J Biogeography 34:994–1007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kosswig C (1955) Zoogeography of the Near East. Syst Zool 4:50–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenz C, Butterlin J, Cavelier C (1993) Late Rupelian Palaeoenvironments (30–28 Ma). In: Dercourt J, Ricou LE, Vrielynck B et al (eds) Atlas Tethys Palaeoenvironmental maps. Maps. BEICIP-FRANLAB, Rueil-Malmaison

    Google Scholar 

  • Michaelsen W (1922) Die Verbreitung der Oligochäten in Lichte der Wegenerischen Theorie der Kontinentenverschiebung und andere Fragen zur Stammgeschichte und Verbreitungen dieser Tiergruppen. Verhandl Naturw Ver Hamburg 29:45–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Mısırlıoğlu M, Pavlíček T, Csuzdi Cs (2008) Earthworm biodiversity in Turkey: an overview. In: Pavlíček T, Cardet P (eds) Advances in Earthworm Taxonomy III (Annelida: Oligochaeta). En Tipis Voula Kokkinou Ltd, Nicosia, pp 139–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Omodeo P (1952) Particolarità della zoogeographia dei lombrichi. Boll Zool 19:349–369

    Google Scholar 

  • Omodeo P (1963) Distribution of the terricolous oligochaetes on the two shores of the Atlantic. In: Love A, Love D (eds) North Atlantic Biota and their history. Pergamon Press, New York, pp 127–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Omodeo P (2000) Evolution and biogeography of megadriles (Annelida, Clitellata). It J Zool 67:179–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Omodeo P, Rota E (1999) Biogeographical patterns of terricolous oligochaetes in Turkey (Annelida: Clitellata: Lumbricidae, Enchytraeidae). Biogeographia 20:61–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlíček T, Csuzdi Cs (2003) Species richness and zoogeographic affinities of earthworms in the Levant. Pedobiologia 47:452–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlíček T, Csuzdi Cs (2006) Species richness and zoogeographic affinities of earthworms in Cyprus. Eur J Soil Biol 42:111–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlíček T, Csuzdi Cs (2008) Did the autochthonous earthworm fauna emigrate from the Levant to Cyprus? In: Pavlíček T, Cardet P (eds) Advances in earthworm taxonomy III (Annelida: Oligochaeta). En Tipis Voula Kokkinou Ltd, Nicosia, pp 189–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlíček T, Csuzdi Cs, Nevo E (2006) Biodiversity of earthworms in the Levant. Isr J Ecol Evol 52:461–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlíček T, Cs Csuzdi, Koşkun Y (2009) First earthworms records in Mesopotamia (Oligochaeta). Zool Middle East 48:119–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Şengör AMC, Yılmaz Y (1981) Tethyan evolution of Turkey: a plate tectonic approach. Tectonophysics 75:181–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry, 2nd edn. W.H. Freeman and Co, San Francisco, p 858

    Google Scholar 

  • Vilenkin B, Chikatunov VI (1998) Co-occurrence of species with various geographical ranges, and correlation between area size and number of species in geographical scale. J Biogeogr 25:275–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilenkin B, Chikatunov VI, Pavlíček T (2009a) The pattern of species turnover resulting from stochastic population dynamics: the model and field data. Ecol Model 220:657–661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilenkin B, Chikatunov VI, Coad BW, Schileyko AA (2009b) A random process may control the number of endemic species. Biologia (Bratislava) 64:107–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Patricia Cardet (Haifa) and Robin Permut (University of Haifa) for commenting on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, 31905, Israel

    Tomáš Pavlíček

  2. Systematic Zoology Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Hungarian Natural History Museum, Baross Str. 13, Budapest, 1088, Hungary

    Csaba Csuzdi

  3. Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Biyoloji Bölümü, 26480, Eskişehir, Turkey

    Mete Mısırlıoğlu

  4. 1406 Forge St, Ottawa, ON, K1T 2T9, Canada

    Boris Vilenkin

Authors
  1. Tomáš Pavlíček
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Csaba Csuzdi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mete Mısırlıoğlu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Boris Vilenkin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomáš Pavlíček.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 List of Middle Eastern earthworm species and their occurrences (presence = 1, absence = 0) in different tectonic units (data source: Csuzdi et al. 2006, 2007; Pavlícek and Csuzdi 2003, 2008; Pavlíček et al. 2009)
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pavlíček, T., Csuzdi, C., Mısırlıoğlu, M. et al. Faunistic similarity and endemism of earthworms in east mediterranean region. Biodivers Conserv 19, 1989–2001 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9821-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9821-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation