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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Distribution of the native earthworm fauna of Australia - a continent-wide perspective

I Abbott

Australian Journal of Soil Research 32(1) 117 - 126
Published: 1994

Abstract

Based on nearly 2000 available records, the broadscale geographical distribution of the native earthworm fauna of Australia was mapped. Native earthworms were recorded from south-eastern, eastern and northern Australia within 400 km of the coast. Isolated faunas were present in Tasmania and south-west Western Australia, and apparently isolated faunas occurred in the Adelaide area/Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia and the ranges of central Australia. All but 30 locality records occurred where annual rainfall averaged or exceeded 400 mm; 16 of these records were instances of moisture-gaining sites (moist caves, waterholes, banks of large rivers, edge of granite domes). A collecting strategy to both fill in gaps in the distribution map and discover additional anomalous occurrences (with respect to the 400 mm isohyet) is outlined.

Keywords: Oligochaeta; Megascolecidae; Native Earthworms; Australia; Geographical Distribution;

https://doi.org/10.1071/SR9940117

© CSIRO 1994

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