Earthworms collection in natural forests in Richmond

by Sanelisiwe Zondi (HSRC intern in the Department of Natural Science at the KZN Museum)

I participated in earthworm field collection which took place in November at Richmond. The team consisted of myself, a HSRC intern (Sanelisiwe Zondi), Dr Thembeka Nxele and Bongani Bambalele. The sampling was in the natural forest patches. The forest patches are between gum plantations and in some areas they are boarded by grassland patches. The most interesting grassland patch was in a very steep slope separating the plantation and the natural forest. We used this grassland as a means to get to the top of the forest since we could not access the forest from the bottom. The hike was challenging because of the extreme weather conditions, some days would be extremely hot, and some days would be heavy rain. I learnt how what we see aboveground (plants and land management) affects soil fauna and contributes a lot to the type of earthworm species that occur. I also learnt of different pathways for the introduction of introduced earthworms and possible competition dynamics between native and introduced earthworms. I experienced first-hand the importance of teamwork as the work was physically challenging and minimum disturbance to the environment has to be applied all the time. Overall, I appreciated the work involved when earthworm field collection is done. At the end of the hiking and digging my body was all toned up with a six pack!

Steep slope “corridor” grassland separating the plantation and the natural forest

The steep hike to the top of the forest through the grassland 

The challenge of digging in the forest

By Dr T. Nxele

Earthworms of the forest are a challenge to dig out. The roots can be large and cutting them would be destroying the trees, therefore, digging has to be around the roots. During the removal of soil from the hole, the small roots damage most earthworms. Collecting just tails is also common in the forest because earthworm are fast when they are in their burrows so catching full individuals is not easy.

Root system in the forest