Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass. We found that local species richness and abundance typically peaked at higher latitudes, displaying patterns opposite to those observed in aboveground organisms. However, high species dissimilarity across tropical locations may cause diversity across the entirety of the tropics to be higher than elsewhere. Climate variables were found to be more important in shaping earthworm communities than soil properties or habitat cover. These findings suggest that climate change may have serious implications for earthworm communities and for the functions they provide.

A N Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow 119071 Russia

Adaptations du Vivant CNRS UMR 7179 Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle 91800 Brunoy France

Agricultura Sociedad y Ambiente Colegio de la Frontera Sur Ciudad Industrial Lerma Campeche 24500 Mexico

Agricultural Engineering Postgraduate Program in Agroecology Maranhão State University 65055 310 São Luís Brazil

Asian School of the Environment Nanyang Technological University 639798 Singapore

Berlin Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research 14195 Berlin Germany

Biodiversity and Systematic Network Instituto de Ecología A C Xalapa 91070 Mexico

Biodiversity Ecology and Evolution Faculty of Biology Complutense University of Madrid 28040 Madrid Spain

Biological Sciences Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights KY 41099 USA

Biometry and Environmental System Analysis University of Freiburg 79106 Freiburg Germany

CEFE UMR 5175 CNRS Univ Montpellier Univ Paul Valéry EPHE SupAgro Montpellier INRA IRD 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5 France

Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modeling Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station CNRS 09200 Moulis France

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Bailrigg Lancaster LA1 4AP UK

Centre of Excellence in Environmental Studies King Abdulaziz University Jeddah 21589 Saudi Arabia

Ciencias Básicas Instituto de Ecología y Desarrollo Sustentable INEDES Universidad Nacional de Luján 6700 Luján Argentina

College of Agriculture Environmental and Human Sciences Lincoln University of Missouri Jefferson City MO 65101 USA

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College of Natural Resources University of Wisconsin Stevens Point WI 54481 USA

Computing ESEI Vigo Edf Politécnico Campus As Lagoas 32004 Ourense Spain

Conservación de la Biodiversidad El Colegio de la Frontera Sur 24500 Campeche Mexico

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CSIRO Health and Biosecurity Canberra ACT 2601 Australia

CSIRO Ocean and Atmosphere Lucas Heights NSW 2234 Australia

Departamento de Ecología y Biología Animal Universidad de Vigo 36310 Vigo Spain

Departamento de Informática Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Informática Universidad de Vigo 36310 Vigo Spain

Département de Biologie Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke J1K 2R1 Canada

Department of Animal Biology University of La Laguna 38200 La Laguna Spain

Department of Animal Ecology Justus Liebig University 35392 Giessen Germany

Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Jyväskylä 40014 Jyväskylä Finland

Department of Biological Geological and Environmental Sciences University of Catania 95124 Catania Italy

Department of Biological Science and Environmental Studies University of the Philippines Mindanao Barangay Mintal 8000 Davao City Philippines

Department of Biological Sciences SUNY Cortland Cortland NY 13045 USA

Department of Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins CO 80523 USA

Department of Biology J J Strossmayer University of Osijek 31000 Osijek Croatia

Department of Bioscience Aarhus University 8600 Silkeborg Denmark

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences KU Leuven 3001 Leuven Belgium

Department of Ecology and Environmental Science Climate Impacts Research Centre Umeå University 90187 Umeå Sweden

Department of Ecology Brandenburg University of Technology 03046 Cottbus Germany

Department of Ecology University of Innsbruck 6020 Innsbruck Austria

Department of Environmental Management Faculty of Natural Sciences Matej Bel University Banská Bystrica Slovakia

Department of Environmental Science Saint Mary's University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada

Department of Forest Ecology Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague 165 21 Prague Czech Republic

Department of Forest Resources University of Minnesota St Paul MN 55101 USA

Department of Land Resource Management and Agricultural Technology College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences University of Nairobi Nairobi 00625 Kenya

Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management Oklahoma State University Stillwater OK 74078 USA

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Honolulu HI 96822 USA

Department of Natural Resources Cornell University Ithaca NY 14853 USA

Department of Soil and Crop Sciences Colorado State University Fort Collins CO 80523 USA

Department of Soil and Environment Forest Research Institute of Baden Wuerttemberg 79100 Freiburg Germany

Department of Soil Science Faculty of Regional and Environmental Sciences University of Trier Campus 2 54286 Trier Germany

Department of Soil Zoology Senckenberg Museum for Natural History Görlitz 02826 Görlitz Germany

Department of Terrestrial Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology 6700 AB Wageningen Netherlands

Department of Zoology Pachhunga University College Aizawl 796001 India

Department of Zoology Pocker Sahib Memorial Orphanage College Tirurangadi Malappuram Kerala India

Dpto Ciencias IS FOOD Universidad Pública de Navarra Edificio Olivos Campus Arrosadia 31006 Pamplona Spain

Earth Innovation Institute 98 Battery Street San Francisco CA 94111 USA

Eco and Sols University of Montpellier IRD CIRAD INRA Montpellier SupAgro 34060 Montpellier France

Ecology and Forest Restoration Group Department of Life Sciences University of Alcalá 28801 Alcalá De Henares Spain

Embrapa Forestry Colombo PR 83411 000 Brazil

Engineering for Crop Production Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy 14469 Potsdam Germany

Environmental Sciences COMSATS University Islamabad Sub campus Vehari Vehari 61100 Pakistan

European Commission Joint Research Centre Ispra Italy

Experimental Infrastructure Platform Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research 15374 Müncheberg Germany

Faculty of Agriculture Kochi University Monobe Otsu 200 Nankoku 783 8502 Japan

Faculty of Agriculture Kyushu University 949 Ohkawauchi Shiiba 883 0402 Japan

Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Helsinki FI 00014 Helsinki Finland

Faculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences Fukushima University Kanayagawa 1 Fukushima City Japan

Faculty of Forestry University of Toronto Toronto ON M5S 3B3 Canada

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Farming Systems Ecology Wageningen University and Research 6700 AK Wageningen Netherlands

Food and Agriculture WWF Netherlands 3708 JB Zeist Netherlands

Forest Ecology and Management Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 90183 Umeå Sweden

Forestry School INDEHESA University of Extremadura 10600 Plasencia Spain

Friends of the Mississippi River 101 East 5th Street St Paul MN 55108 USA

Geology Department FCEFQyN ICBIA CONICET National University of Río Cuarto X5804 BYA Río Cuarto Argentina

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig 04103 Leipzig Germany

Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative and School of Global Environmental Sustainability Colorado State University Fort Collins CO 80523 USA

Group of Global Change Ecology and Evolution Department of Life Sciences University of Alcalá 28805 Alcalá de Henares Spain

Institute for Agro Environmental Sciences National Agriculture and Food Research Organization Tsukuba 305 8604 Japan

Institute for Alpine Environment Eurac Research 39100 Bozen Bolzano Italy

Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics University of Amsterdam 1012 WX Amsterdam Netherlands

Institute of Biodiversity Friedrich Schiller University Jena 07743 Jena Germany

Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth SY23 3EE UK

Institute of Biology Freie Universität Berlin 14195 Berlin Germany

Institute of Biology Leipzig University 04103 Leipzig Germany

Institute of Biology Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg 06108 Halle Germany

Institute of Computer Science Friedrich Schiller University Jena 07743 Jena Germany

Institute of Ecology Technical University of Berlin 10587 Berlin Germany

Institute of Environmental Sciences Jagiellonian University 30 087 Kraków Poland

Institute of Evolutionary Biology 08003 Barcelona Spain

John H Daniels Faculty of Architecture Landscape and Design University of Toronto Toronto ON M5S 3B3 Canada

Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions Ministry of Education College of Environment and Planning Henan University Kaifeng 475004 China

Laboratorio de Ecología Instituto de Ecología y Desarrollo Sustentable Universidad Nacional de Luján 6700 Luján Argentina

Laboratory of Computational Ecology Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology Branch of Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of Russian Academy of Sciences Pushchino 142290 Russia

Laboratory of Ecosystem Modeling Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Sciences Russian Academy of Science Pushchino 142290 Russia

Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology Environmental Toxicology Unit Campus Coupure Ghent Belgium

Laboratory of Nematology Department of Plant Sciences Wageningen University and Research 6708 PB Wageningen Netherlands

Laboratory of Terrestrial Ecosystems Kola Science Centre Institute of the North Industrial Ecology Problems Apatity 184211 Russia

Land Use and Governance Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research 15374 Müncheberg Germany

Landscape Ecology and Environmental Systems Analysis Institute of Geoecology Technische Universität Braunschweig 38106 Braunschweig Germany

Louis Bolk Institute 3981 AJ Bunnik Netherlands

M 5 Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow 119991 Russia

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency St Paul MN 55155 USA

National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Bilthoven Netherlands

Natural Area Consultants 1 West Hill School Road Richford NY 13835 USA

Natural Resource Sciences McGill University Ste Anne de Bellevue H9X 3V9 Canada

Post Graduate Department of Zoology Khalsa College Amritsar Amritsar 143002 India

Postgraduate Program in Biodiversity and Conservation Federal University of Maranhão 65080 805 São Luís Brazil

Production Systems Horticulture Technologies Natural Resources Institute Finland 40500 Jyväskylä Finland

Razi University Kermanshah Iran

Research Institute for Nature and Forest 9500 Geraardsbergen Belgium

School of Agricultural Forest and Food Sciences Bern University of Applied Sciences 3052 Zollikofen Switzerland

School of Agriculture Food and Environment Royal Agricultural University Cirencester GL7 6JS UK

School of Biology and Environmental Science University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland

School of Forest Resources and Conservation University of Florida Gainesville FL 32611 USA

Soil Ecosystems Natural Resources Institute Finland 31600 Jokioinen Finland

Soil Physics and Land Management Degradation Wageningen University and Research 6708 PB Wageningen Netherlands

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Soil Water and Climate University of Minnesota St Paul MN 55108 USA

Sorbonne Université CNRS UPEC Paris 7 INRA IRD Institut d'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris F 75005 Paris France

Sustainable Development and Environment Engineering Banat's University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine King Michael the 1st of Romania 300645 Timisoara Romania

The Nature Conservancy Arlington VA 22203 USA

Thuenen Institute of Organic Farming 23847 Westerau Germany

Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Honolulu HI 96822 USA

UCD Earth Institute University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland

UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science University College Dublin Belfield Ireland

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USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station Athens GA 30602 USA

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Conceptualizing soil fauna effects on labile and stabilized soil organic matter

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure

Connecting the multiple dimensions of global soil fungal diversity

Regional biogeography versus intra-annual dynamics of the root and soil microbiome

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Global distribution of soil fauna functional groups and their estimated litter consumption across biomes

Gut microbiome reflect adaptation of earthworms to cave and surface environments

Earthworms as catalysts in the formation and stabilization of soil microbial necromass

Worldwide diversity of endophytic fungi and insects associated with dormant tree twigs

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Connecting high-throughput biodiversity inventories: Opportunities for a site-based genomic framework for global integration and synthesis