FIGURE 1.

Global earthworm abundance (ind./m²; in grey) and biomass (g/m²; in blue) of three ecological groups [(a); anecic, epigeic, and endogeic earthworms] and abundance and biomass of mineral soil‐dwelling endogeics based on land use [(b); cropland, grassland, and deciduous and coniferous forests], climate [(c); Köppen‐Geiger classification main groups: arid, continental, temperate, and tropical], and reference soil group (d) (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2014). The data were compiled based on the dataset on global earthworm diversity and abundance published by Phillips et al. (2021), including 78 studies and up to ~6900 observations. Lower‐case letters indicate significant differences between abundance or biomass values (p < .05, analysis of variance with Tukey's HSD post‐hoc test); dots indicate outliers, that is, values exceeding 1.5× the interquartile range; means are indicated above each box plot. Note that soil type data, except for Cambisols and Luvisols, are relatively scarce. Panels (b)–(d) for epigeic and anecic species are provided in Figures S1 and S2