Biology 3 63 2011-10-17.Pdf

V.S.Аbukenova УДК 595,9 V.S.Аbukenova The Karaganda State University named after E.A.Buketov Аspects of the biodiversity and taxonomy of earthworms on the 5th international oligochaete taxonomy meeting The scientific works of 4th International Oligochaeta Taxonomy Meetings are presented. Modern methods of gathering and the account, taxonomy and the genetic analysis of different species of earthworms are resulted. Problems of systematisation of group are described. New methods of phylogenetic constructions are characterised. The basic of ecological researches in the biodiversity of oligochaetes analyzed in various regions of the world. The life forms informations is given in the aspects of modern ekologo-physiological researches. У Key words: Oligochaeta, taxonomy, distribution, earthworms, soil, natural commodity, ecosystems, species., scientific, fauna. Г Oligochaeta (few-bristled worms) is an extremely important taxonomic group in aquaticр and terrestrial ecosystems. The class Oligochaeta (phylum Annelida) was traditionally separated into Microdriles (small oligochaetes living in sea and fresh water and in wet soil) and Megadriles (often large oligochaetes, living mostly in terrestrial soil, a few are however semi-aquatic or aquatic). Though, one shouldа keep in mind that nowadays Microdriles are considered as a paraphyletic assemblage whereas Megadriles are regarded as per- haps a monophyletic group [1]. К To the layman the best known oligochaete group are earthworms that were one of the first animal group colonizing humus soils at the end of Palaeozoic (250 MYA), and Charles Darwin undeniably contributed to their fame with his famous book The Formation of Vegetable Mouldй through the Action of Worms with Ob- servations on their Habits, which became a best-seller in that time. In contrast to other Oligochaeta, the important role of earthworms has been recognized from the dawn of human history till present. They were known, for millennia, as important factors of soil fertility and it is noи coincidence that in 350 B.C.E.Aristotle in his Historia Animalium described them as earth's guts. In fact, the number of casts was used as an estimator of soil fertility by tribesmen in the Sahara region as reporрted by Howard (1945). Earthworms have been also used in early medicine, as documented by Pliny the Elder (77) in his Natural History. Rather surprisingly, they have also been used as a model of scientific оexplanation of our world. For instance, Aristotle mentioned them as an example to support his — today rejected — theory of abiogenesis and believed — wrongly — that eels originated from earthworms [2]. т In spite of the importance of oligochaetes, there are presently some serious deficiencies in the knowledge about their taxonomy, distribution,и biology and ecology, in comparison with mammals, birds, lizards and other organismal groups. One way to bridge this gap is to bring together scientists working on the sub- ject with the aim to speed up informationз about the progress in their work, exchange ideas and encourage them to cooperate. This is the basic idea behind the organization of the International Oligochaeta Taxonomy Meetings (IOTM). So far,о four successful meetings took place. The 1st IOTM was organized by Ana G.Moreno in Madrid, Spain, the 2nd IOTM by Victor V.Pop in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the 3rd IOTM by Tomáš Pavlíċek and Patricia Cardet in Platres, Cyprus, and the 4th IOTM by Tomáš Pavlíċek, Patricia Cardet and Yüksel пCoskun in Diyarbakır, Turkey (Fig.). Traditionally, the meetings concentrate mainly on Oligochaete taxonomy and phylogeny, but also discuss different aspects from other scientific fields, e.g. earthworm ecology,е faunistics and phylogeography as well as new methods of their study. The 5th Interna- tional Oligochaete Taxonomy Meeting was continue in the best tradition of the previous four meetings and took placeР in Beatenberg in Switzerland, from April 11th to April 15th, 2011. The value of soil and soil fauna in balance and preservation of ecosistems. For example Blakemore R.J (Tokyo, Japan) writes that earthworms are a surprisingly diverse and important group of organisms. This is what Darwin explained to us in his 1881 treatise, the culmination of 40 yrs of his work, on Vegetable Mould and Worms where once again he showed, as with Evolution via Natural Selection, how small, con- stant changes produce profound effects on all entwined Nature. 10 Вестник Карагандинского университета Аspects of the biodiversity and taxonomy of earthworms … Figure. The emblems of the International oligochaeta taxonomy meetings The importance of Earthworms relates to their intimate and synonymous/eponymous relationship Уwith the earthen soil and plants that grow from it. Soil is the most important and precious natural commodity on the Earth. All terrestrial life isГ built upon its foundation from healthy organic soil, so too are river, lake and coastal marine ecosystems (the deep ocean is a mostly devoid desert with only a few biodiverse «oases» hotspots). A 10-yr $300m marine consensus resulted in the abysmally small total of just 250,000 marine species in total — about 10р % of the current global total. The United Nations FAO provides that 99.6 % of all human food and fibre comesа from the land, despite this more resources are directed to aquatic and in particular marine research then into soil. There is not a sin- gle SOIL ECOLOGY INSTITUTE anywhere in the world in contrast to the Кmyriad marine laboratories or space observatories. Thus Science journal was justified to title a special issue: «Soil — the Final Frontier. The aim is to present how Earthworms are Ancient («Bioneers» to the land some 500–750 m yrs ago, with claimed origins ca. 1 billion yrs), Diverse (ca. 10,000 currently named species cf. 13,000 mainly marine Polychaetes), and crucially Important to Ecosystem services and food-chainsй which all Life on Earth, includ- ing ourselves, depend. In 1802 Lamarck named them Annelidés — the ringed ones — and they truly are the humble but accomplished Lords of the Ring. A proposal is presentedи to justify support for crucial earthworm eco-taxonomy as a ‘Sea Change’ for soil research. E.Havlicek (Switzerland) asks: «Do really politiciaрns need earthworms?» Whereas water and air have been receiving ongoing care and attention from scientific institutions and from legislative management for last decades, soils and their inhabitants, until recently,о did not benefit from such interest. Doubtlessly, they are now recognized for their high biodiversity but in fact, the soil biology is still widely unknown. Moreover, the fact is that soils are not only a milieu forт living organisms, they are also formed by these organisms and without their presence soils cannot develop. Determining and monitoring soil biodiversity is far from com- pletion; nevertheless, in order to achieveи soil protection goals at policy level, bioindicators such as earthworm diversity or microbial respiration — even imperfect — are being implemented. The choice of accurate tools is challenging because besideз biological parameters, socioeconomic factors, such as effectiveness, in- expensiveness, or capacity to provide information, are to be considered. The way leading fromо fundamental science to implementation is still not completely cleared, particu- larly in the soil biota domain. Reasons can be found out in the lack of scientific knowledge but also in the multifunctional use of soils that leads to divergent interest related either to soil quantity or to soil quality. Choosing to hostп the 5th IOTM in the Alps had a symbolic meaning. The Alps constitute one of the European hotspots of the origin of earthworm biodiversity. Earthwormе biodiversity is the traditional theme of meeting. First recorded earthworms from the Mouteh Wildlife Refuge (Iran) by Ghayoumi R. has shown earthworms belong to three genera from the fam- ily Lumbricidae (Rafinesque-Schmaltz 1815), and include the following five species: Aporrectodea caligi- nosa (SavignyР 1826), A. rosea (Savigny 1826), Dendrobaena hortensis (Michaelsen 1890), D.veneta (Rosa 1886), Eiseniella tetraedra (Savigny 1826). Species richness and zoogeographic affinities of earthworms in Iran has been investigated by Ezzat- panah S., Latif R. and Malek M. The earthworm fauna of Iran is poorly known. So far, recorded are 18 species, 11 genera and two families (Lumbricidae and Megascolecidae). Out of all recorded species 61 % (11 species) are introduced and 39 % (seven species) could be autochthonous: Aporrectodea jassyensis, Dendro- baena byblica complex, D. schmidti, D. veneta, Helodrilus patriarchalis, Healyella syriaca and Perelia Серия «Биология. Медицина. География». № 3(63)/2011 11 V.S.Аbukenova kaznakovi. Native worms are found only in the narrow geographical region north of Elburz and Zagros Mountains. After uplifting, the mountain ranges have served as a natural geographic barrier preventing mi- gration of the natives to the internal parts of Iran. The most speciose area in Iran located in the North West of the country might have earthworm exchange with Anatolia. A comparison of native species shows a high faunal (more than 85 %) similarity between Iran and Anatolia. Biodiversity of earthworms in French Guiana described by Pablicek T. and Csuzdi Cs. The taxonomic diversity of earthworms in Eastern Amazonia is almost unknown. In humid tropical French Guiana (83,534 km²) 17 identified earthworm species have been recorded of which more than 50 % are introduced. Apart from one larger earthworm sample collected in French Guiana at the first half of 20th century all literature records are limited to description of one or a few species. They have described (in press) one new genus comprising three species. Two of them are new to science and were collected at the Nouragues Natural Re- serve. The third species known from northern Brazil was accommodated in the genus Andiorrhinus before it was transferred to the new genus. Regarding of the genus Martiodrilus the revision of the collected samples provides evidence about the presence of two species recorded earlier (M. duodenarius (Michaelsen, 1918),У M. tenkatei (Horst, 1887)); one species firstly recorded in F.Guiana (M.

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