Ghina Salwa Salsabila, Arega Dwi Putra, Avi Qurvanda Putri Pradani, Oktavia Putri Bintara, Amore Amodia Hudzaifah Citraningsih Arif Putri, Safila Anggraena, Rizki Maulana Ishaq, Nur Azizah, Kurniatun Hairiah, Syahrul Kurniawan
The 2014 eruption of Mount Kelud substantially reduced vegetation cover and litter input, resulting in habitat degradation for soil organisms, including earthworms. As sensitive bioindicators of habitat quality and landuse change, earthworms were used to assess ecosystem recovery. This study evaluated earthworm density, diversity, and Importance Value Index (IVI) across five landuse systems: Pine–Elephant Grass Agroforestry (APR), Mahogany–Elephant Grass Agroforestry (AMR), Complex Agroforestry (CAF), Simple Agroforestry (SAF), and Annual Food Crops (MOS). Measurements were conducted in four different replicate plots within each LUS. Earthworms collected using the hand-sorting method of three soil depth of 0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm. Across all landuse systems, earthworm density was highest in the 0–10 cm soil depth. Among the evaluated landuse systems, AMR had the lowest overall earthworm density. Shannon–Wiener diversity, evenness, and richness indices were consistently low, indicating that earthworm communities remain in the post-eruption recovery stage. Pontoscolex sp. dominated in APR, CAF, SAF, and MOS, whereas Metaphire sp. predominated in AMR. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that soil moisture was the primary factor associated with earthworm density and biomass, while canopy cover was stronger related to litter quality than to earthworm community attributes.