Article InfoWe investigated the dynamics of different earthworm species through the soil profile, which had received short-term amendments of either organic or inorganic fertilizer in an orchard during the spring of 2016. Earthworm populations were sampled at two consecutive depths of soil on 20 and 60 days after addition of fertilizers. The dominant earthworm species were Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826), Dendrobaena veneta (Rosa, 1886), Dendrobaena hortensis (Michaelsen, 1890), Lumbricus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758) and Aporrectodea longa (Ude, 1885). Seven different types of fertilizers including Urea, Ammonium sulfate (AS), Diammonium phosphate (DAP), Solupotas, NPK (15-5-25), (NPK+OM) and organic manure (OM) as experimental treatments were studied. Fluctuations in earthworm numbers and biomass were attributed to changes in time and depth of sampling, in addition to the types of fertilizers. The results of the means comparison showed that on the 20th day, at 0-20 cm soil depth, E. fetida species abundance was decreased significantly in AS and Urea treatments compared to the control plot (p˂0.05). We highlighted that from epigeic group, D. hortensis species had a better chance to survive and its population in AS treatment was more than that of Urea treatment. Results also showed that the anecic L. terrestris, had a greater tolerance to chemical fertilizers compared to the A. Longa species. The results of this study outline more clear horizons in managing the use of chemical fertilizers while simultaneously maintaining the biodiversity of soil organisms.

List of symbols A Area of both top and bottom walls (m 2) B Channel width (m) c p Constant pressure specific heat (kJ kg −1 K −1) D Channel height (m) D h Channel hydraulic diameter (m) f Friction factor f 0 Friction factor obtained from Petukhov's empirical correlation H Rib height (m) k Fluid thermal conductivity (W m −1 K −1) Nu Local Nusselt number Nu s Nusselt number obtained from the Dittus-Boelter correlation Pi Rib pitch (m) p, p Pressure and pressure drop in a channel, respectively (Pa) p Periodic component of pressure (Pa) q ′′ Heat flux (W m −2) Re Reynolds number (=U b D h /ν) T Local mean temperature (K) T Periodic component of temperature (K) W Rib width (m) Pr Prandtl number Abbreviations NSGA II Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm ANN Artificial neural network GMDH Group method of data handling Greek symbols α One of rib legs angles with lateral axis of channel (o) β One of rib legs angles with lateral axis of channel (o)