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Zelkova is a genus of six species of deciduous trees in the elm family Ulmaceae, native to southern Europe, and southwest and eastern Asia. They vary in size from shrubs to large trees up to 35 m (115 ft) tall. The bark is smooth, dark brown. Unlike the elms, the branchlets are never corky or winged. The leaves are alternate, with serrated margins, and a symmetrical base to the leaf blade. The leaves are in two distinct rows; they have pinnate venation and each vein extends to the leaf margin, where it terminates in a tooth. There are two stipules at each node, though these are caducous, leaving a pair of scars at the leaf base. Zelkova is polygamous. Staminate flowers are clustered in the lower leaf axils of young branchlets; the perianth is campanulate, with four to six lobes, and the stamens are short. Pistillate and hermaphrodite flowers are solitary, or rarely in clusters of two to four, in the upper leaf axils of young branchlets. The fruit is a dry, nut-like drupe with a dorsal keel, produced singly in the leaf axils. The perianth and stigma are persistent.
Oligochaeta is a subclass of animals in the phylum Annelida, which is made up of many types of aquatic and terrestrial worms, including all of the various earthworms. Specifically, oligochaetes comprise the terrestrial megadrile earthworms, and freshwater or semiterrestrial microdrile forms, including the tubificids, pot worms and ice worms (Enchytraeidae), blackworms (Lumbriculidae) and several interstitial marine worms.
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Invasive species of earthworms from the suborder Lumbricina have been expanding their range in North America. Earthworms are considered one of the most abundant macroinvertebrates in the soil of ecosystems in temperate and tropical climates. There are around 3,000 species known worldwide. They are considered keystone species in their native habitats of Asia and Europe because, as detritivores, they alter many different variables of their ecosystem. Their introduction to North America has had marked effects on the nutrient cycles and soil profiles in temperate forests. These earthworms increase the cycling and leaching of nutrients by breaking up decaying organic matter and spreading it into the soil. This thins out the soil rapidly because earthworms do not require a mate to reproduce, allowing them to spread fast. Since plants native to these northern forests are evolutionarily adapted to the presence of thick layers of decaying organic matter, the introduction of worms can lead to a loss of biodiversity as young plants face less nutrient-rich conditions. Some species of trees and other plants may be incapable of surviving such changes in available nutrients. This change in the plant diversity in turn affects other organisms and often leads to increased invasions of other exotic species as well as overall forest decline. They are considered one of the most invasive animals in the Midwestern United States along with feral swine.
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Samuel James is an American scientist, a researcher specializing in evolutionary biology, focusing on earthworm taxonomy. James, with fellow researchers, has discovered numerous species of annelids, including Diplocardia californiana, Diplocardia woodi, Diplocardia montana, and a new species related to the Giant Palouse earthworm.
Octochaetus multiporus, commonly known as the New Zealand earthworm, is a megascolecid worm endemic to New Zealand. It is mainly found in the south of Manawatu but may also be found along the east coast of the South Island. A bioluminescent worm, Octochaetus multiporus secretes a luminescent fluid from its mouth when disturbed or punctured.
Megascolecidae earthworm Amynthas japonicus was a Japanese native probably collected from Nagasaki in the 1820s. It was one of three native earthworms featured in Dr P.F.B. von Siebold’s extensive collection and recorded as one of Japan’s earliest pheretimoid species. It is now deemed extinct given that a 2018 Nagasaki expedition and earlier 1930s reports failed to locate it. It is featured on The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database.
Diplocardia meansi, Means's Giant Earthworm, or Rich Mountain Giant Earthworm, is a species of earthworm endemic to the United States. It is the second longest earthworm in North America. It was discovered by D. Bruce Means on June 11, 1973, in Polk County, Arkansas. and later described by Gates in 1977. It occurs only on Rich Mountain, part of the Ouachita Mountains.
References
- ↑ Misspelled "D. pettibonae Gates 1977" by James (1995: 34) and this copied to Blakemore (2005/6) wherewithin species lists are presented.
- ↑ Robison, Henry W.; Allen, Robert T. (1995-01-01). Only in Arkansas: A Study of the Endemic Plants and Animals of the State. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 978-1-55728-326-9.
- Blakemore, R.J. (2005). American earthworms from north of the Rio Grande - a species checklist. COE, YNU. Retrieved on 10 May 2005 [ permanent dead link ]
- Blakemore, R.J. (2006). American earthworms from north of the Rio Grande - a species checklist (2nd edition). COE, YNU. Retrieved on 13th Dec, 2006
- James, S.W. (1995). Systematics, biogeography and ecology of earthworms from eastern, central, southern and southwestern USA. in P. Hendrix (ed.) Earthworm Ecology and Biogeography in North America, pp. 29–51. CRC Press, Inc, Boca Raton, Florida. Retrieved on 4th Mar, 2008 from Google Books
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