Earthworms, as ‘ecosystem engineers', play a crucial role in regulating ecosystem functions and shaping community structures. Due to climate change, earthworms face severe survival pressures and extinction risks. However, whether conservation efforts targeting aboveground biodiversity can cover the long‐neglected earthworm diversity remains unknown. To address this gap, we constructed stacked species distribution models based on earthworm occurrence data and environmental factors to predict the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of earthworm richness and identify conservation gaps. Results indicated that high earthworm richness primarily occurs in southeastern and southwestern China. This distribution pattern was mainly influenced by precipitation during the coldest season and the annual temperature range. Earthworms are projected to shift northwestward, with regions like the Qinling Mountains emerging as new diversity hotspots. Both current and projected distribution areas exhibit extremely low protected area coverage, leaving 76.3% of earthworm species unprotected. By 2100, 62.0% are projected to face severe habitat loss (area reduction > 30.0%), with 37.0% at risk of extinction. Future earthworm species in farmland and forests will significantly diminish, as over 50.0% of these regions already face soil degradation risks that severely impact crop yields and carbon sequestration. These findings underscore the urgency of integrating subterranean biodiversity into national land‐use conservation planning, providing critical scientific evidence for optimizing national‐scale biodiversity conservation strategies and policy development.
Zhou et al. (Fri,) studied this question.