Impact of agricultural practices on earthworm biodiversity in different agroecosystems

The diversity of Earthworms in agro-ecosystems is less studied and the modern agriculture which involve different agricultural practices like crop rotation, tillage and application of synthetic fertilizer leads to pollute the soil ecosystem as a result the highly sensitive soil micro and macro faunal diversity is in threaten condition. This investigation was an attempt to assess the diversity of different native species of earthworms from five different agro-ecosystems. The diversity of earthworms reveals that the diversity of earthworms from rice field recorded higher number followed by turmeric field. Eiesnia foetida and Periyonx excavates were the local earthworm species recorded during the entire investigation. The investigation reveals the impact of different agricultural practices on the soil faunal diversity and its importance in the context of soil organic matter.