ANRV360-ES39-28 ARI 1 October 2008 10:32 Pandora’s Box Contained Bait: The Global Problem of Introduced Earthworms∗ Paul F. Hendrix,1,2 Mac A. Callaham, Jr.,3 John M. Drake,1 Ching-Yu Huang,1 Sam W. James,4 Bruce A. Snyder,1 and Weixin Zhang5,6 1Odum School of Ecology, and 2Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602; email:
[email protected] 3Center for Forest Disturbance Science, Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Athens, Georgia 30602 4Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045 5South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650 6Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 2008. 39:593–613 Key Words The Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and biological invasions, exotic species, oligochaete biogeography, soil fauna Systematics is online at ecolsys.annualreviews.org This article’s doi: Abstract 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.39.110707.173426 Introduced exotic earthworms now occur in every biogeographic region in by U.S. Department of Agriculture on 10/29/09. For personal use only. Copyright c 2008 by Annual Reviews. all but the driest or coldest habitat types on Earth. The global distribution All rights reserved of a few species (e.g., Pontoscolex corethrurus) was noted by early natural- 1543-592X/08/1201-0593$20.00 ists, but now approximately 120 such peregrine species are recognized to Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 2008.39:593-613. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org ∗The U.S. Government has the right to retain a be widespread from regional to global scales, mainly via human activities.