Surviving the summer as the climate changes: investigating drivers and costs of aestivation in earthworms

气候变化导致了极端天气的增加，包括干旱事件的频率。蚯蚓是“生态系统工程师”，帮助土壤通风，改善水分保持，并通过它们的洞穴活动来循环营养。一些蚯蚓物种在干旱期间幸存下来时采用的一种策略是休眠，在这种策略中，蚯蚓蜷缩成球，在条件有利之前保持低水平的新陈代谢活动。在干旱之后，蚯蚓表现出更多的摄食，这表明该项目概述了栖息需要能量。启动夏眠的确切条件，蚯蚓可以夏眠的频率和时间，以及这一过程的成本都是未知的。随着干旱可能性的增加，夏眠可能会成为蚯蚓在恶劣条件下生存的一种不那么有效的方式，这种条件不仅会减少蚯蚓的丰富度和多样性，而且可能会对土壤质量和生产力产生影响。

Climate change has resulted in an increase in extreme weatherincluding the frequency of drought events.Earthworms are "ecosystem engineers" that help to aerate thesoil, improve water retention and circulate nutrients through theirburrowing activity. One strategy that some earthworm speciesdeploy for surviving periods of drought is aestivation, in whichthe earthworm curls up into a ball and maintains a low level ofmetabolic activity until conditions are favourable. Followingdrought, earthworms show increased feeding, which suggestsProject outlinethat aestivation is energy demanding. The precise conditionsthat initiate aestivation, how frequently and for how long anearthworm can aestivate, and how costly this process is are allunknownWith increased likelihood of droughts, aestivation may becomea less effective way for earthworms to survive inhospitableconditions that not only reduce their abundance and diversitybut are likely to have an impact on soil quality and productivity.