Viable plant diaspores in the guts of earthworms

The presence of viable diaspores in the guts of free living earthworms was investigated. The earthworms were collected in two chalk grasslands, a fertilized pasture and a wood, all in South Limburg, The Netherlands. Phanerogams as well as ferns emerged in low numbers. Bryophytes (eight species) emerged frequently in some of the samples. The plants originated probably mainly from spores. The low presence of bryophyte species regenerating from tubers suggests a high mortality of vegetative diaspores in the digestive canal of the earthworms.