Living cover crops are associated with higher earthworm abundance and biomass in a subtropical citrus orchard.

Living cover crops are increasingly used in orchards, but evidence linking cover-crop identity to earthworm indicators under subtropical conditions remains limited. This cross-sectional field comparison was based on one sampling event in November 2025. We compared perennial peanut (Arachis pintoi) and Indigofera hendecaphylla Jacq. ex Poir. with a weedy control and measured community-level earthworm abundance and fresh biomass, plant-derived inputs, and selected soil properties at 0-10 and 10-20 cm. Mixed-effects models accounting for the randomized block design detected treatment- and depth-associated differences in earthworm abundance and biomass. At 0-10 cm, I. hendecaphylla had the highest earthworm abundance (156.00 ± 40.92 ind. m⁻²) and fresh biomass (2.408 ± 0.365 g m⁻²). Across 0-20 cm, total abundance and fresh biomass were 78.1% and 93.3% higher, respectively, under A. pintoi than under the weedy control, and 208.2% and 218.3% higher under I. hendecaphylla. I. hendecaphylla also had the highest litter standing crop (625.89 ± 32.45 g fresh mass m⁻²) and the highest topsoil organic matter, total nitrogen, and alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen. Correlation and ordination analyses summarized associations with surface litter and nutrient-related variables but did not establish independent drivers or causality. At this single November sampling event, both living covers were associated with higher earthworm abundance and fresh biomass, with the strongest association under I. hendecaphylla. Temporal persistence requires multi-season sampling, dry-mass measurements, and species or ecological-group identification.