Earthworms (Annelida: Lumbricidae) biodiversity affected by pyrogenic carbon emissions at the “Maritsa-Iztok” basin (Bulgaria)

Abstract

The paper provides the first exploration of earthworm populations from region of thermal power plant Maritsa East 2 (Bulgaria). During the investigation was observed low biodiversity, count and biomass of lumbricid earthworms in reclaimed soils from coal mining. Five earthworm species were registered from the studied area: Aporrectodea caliginosa (Savigny, 1826), Aporrectodea rosea (Savigny, 1826), Aporrectodea trapezoides (Dugès, 1828), Aporrectodea jassyensis (Michaelsen, 1891) and Cernosvitovia rebeli (Rosa, 1897). First record of endemic species Cernosvitovia rebeli (Rosa, 1897) from Thracian Lowland.

Keywords

• earthworms
• soil reclamation
• coal mining