NDLI: Quantifying surface and subsurface cast production by earthworms under controlled laboratory conditions

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Whalen, Joann K. Sampedro, Luis Waheed, Tahir
Copyright Year	2004
Abstract	Earthworm casts, formed when organic substrates and soil minerals pass through the digestive tract, may protect soil organic matter from biological degradation if they persist in the soil. Yet, the stability of casts is affected by their location in the soil profile because surface casts are exposed to more disruptive forces (wetting-drying, freezing-thawing) than subsurface casts. It is not known whether environmental conditions affect the proportions of surface and subsurface casts produced by earthworms. This study investigated how surface and subsurface cast production by juveniles of Aporrectodea spp. and Lumbricus spp. was affected by temperature. Two juveniles of Aporrectodea spp. or Lumbricus spp. were added to plexiglass chambers filled with soil, and five replicate chambers were incubated in the dark at 5°C, 10°C, 15°C or 20°C for 1 week. Most of the casts produced by Aporrectodea spp. and Lumbricus spp. were surface casts, with <10% of casts deposited below the soil surface. The earthworms studied produced more casts, and a greater proportion of surface casts, as the soil temperature increased. These results can be used to estimate the quantity of surface and subsurface casts produced by earthworm populations under field conditions and determine the susceptibility of cast-associated organic matter to decomposition in the medium- to long-term.
Starting Page	287
Ending Page	291
Page Count	5
File Format	PDF
ISSN	01782762
Journal	Biology and Fertility of Soils
Volume Number	39
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	14320789
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2004-01-10
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Earthworm Cast production rate Soil egestion Soil organic matter turnover
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Agronomy and Crop Science Soil Science Microbiology

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