Effects of Earthworm Cast Application on Water Evaporation and Storage in Loess Soil Column Experiments

Li, Yanpei; Shao, Mingan; Wang, Jiao

doi:10.3390/su12083112

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Earthworm casts are rich in organic matter content and have good water retention and air permeability. Li et al (2020) found that earthworm casts can reduce water evaporation and improve soil water retention. Bottinelli et al (2010) reported that endogeic earthworms can produce approximately five‐fold casts of their own weight per day.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earthworm (Metaphire guillelmi) activities increase the risk of soil erosion – a simulation experiment

Chen

Shao

Wei

et al. 2022

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Earthworms exert a great impact on soil physical and chemical properties through feeding, burrowing, and casting activities. These activities can further affect soil erosion processes. However, we have insufficient knowledge on the effects of earthworm activities on soil erosion. In this study, we quantified the effects of earthworm activities on soil water distribution, runoff rate, and soil erosion rate under three slope gradients (5°, 10°, and 15°) through a laboratory‐simulated rainfall experiment. The uniform rainfall intensity (80 mm h−1) was set, and the rainfall duration after runoff generation was set to 60 min. Results showed that earthworm increased soil water infiltration and soil water storage (SWS). The increments in SWS were 41.2, 24.0, and 34.9 mm, respectively, in the tanks with earthworms at the slope gradients of 5°, 10°, and 15°, which were 93%, 51%, and 70% higher than the values of the control plots (21.3, 15.9, and 20.5 mm). Compared with the control plots, earthworm activities reduced the runoff rate at slope gradients of 5°, 10°, and 15° by 70%, 13%, and 39%, respectively; and increased soil erosion rate at slope gradients of 10° and 15° by 42% and 46%, respectively. Through their feeding, burrowing, and casting activities, earthworm increased soil water infiltration, reduced surface runoff, and increased soil erosion. This study provides insights into the effects of soil animals on soil erosion processes, and these data could then be incorporated into existing soil erosion simulation models or provide a basis for new models.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earthworm (Metaphire guillelmi) activities increase the risk of soil erosion – a simulation experiment

Chen

Shao

Wei

et al. 2022

Earth Surf Processes Landf

Self Cite

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“…The SWC of the earthworm-treated soils was significantly greater than that of the C (p < 0.05)) in the surface 0-20 cm of soil. The averages of the SWC were in decreased order with the earthworm density in all the experiment times, namely, HDE > MDE > LDE > C. Li et al [30] suggested that earthworm casts are a natural water-retaining material. The majority of studies consider that the casts of earthworms are better water stabilizing aggregate [38].…”

Section: Impact Of Earthworms On Swcmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The result is similar to that obtained by Wang [40], who showed that mulch treatment can effectively regulate soil temperature. Li et al [30] also suggested that aggregates of earthworms could form a new soil layer that positively reduces evaporation. During this experiment, the HDE (1422.6 g) had more casts than the MDE (871.8 g) and the LDE (543.6 g) mulching on the soil surface.…”

Section: Impact Of Earthworm On Temperature and Evaporationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Casts not only increase soil organic matter [26], but also exhibit good water stability. Some researchers found the casts could improve soil microbial activity [27] and the soil water holding capacity [28], thereby affecting soil nutrient cycling [29,30]. Earthworms redistribute organic materials and influence ion transport in soils by their feeding and burrowing behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characteristics of Soil Moisture and Evaporation under the Activities of Earthworms in Typical Anthrosols in China

Shao

2020

Sustainability

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Earthworms have an important influence on the terrestrial ecological environment. This study assesses the effect of different earthworm densities on soil water content (SWC) and evaporation in a laboratory experiment. Four earthworm densities (0 no-earthworm, control [C]; 207 earthworms m−2, low density [LDE]; 345 earthworms m−2, medium density [MDE]; and 690 earthworms m−2, high density [HDE]) are tested in soil columns. Results show that cumulative evaporation occurs in the decreasing order of densities: C (98.6 mm) > LDE (115.8 mm) > MDE (118.4 mm) > HDE (124.6 mm). Compared with the control, earthworm activity decreases cumulative soil evaporation by 5.0–20.9%, increases soil temperature to 0.46 °C–0.63 °C at 8:00, and decreases soil temperature to 0.21 °C–0.52 °C at 14:00 on the soil surface. Temperature fluctuations reduce with increasing earthworm densities. A negative correlation is found between cumulative soil evaporation and earthworm density (R2 = 0.969, p < 0.001). Earthworms significantly (p < 0.05) decrease the surface SWC loss (0–20 cm) soil layer but increase the subsoil SWC loss (60–100 cm) by adjusting the soil temperature and reducing soil water evaporation. Earthworm activities (burrows, casts…) improve the soil water holding ability by adjusting soil temperature and reducing soil water evaporation. Thus, the population quantity of earthworms may provide valuable ecosystem services in soil water and heat cycles to save water resources and realize sustainable agricultural development.

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“…Many researchers have reported that earthworms can have important influences on physical and biological effects that affect the nutrient supply to plants, therefore improving plant growth [22,[28][29][30][31][32]. Earthworms are also known to contribute to the aggregate stability of soils varying in texture, carbonate and concentration of organic matter by burrowing, foraging and casting on the soil surface and within the soil [33][34][35][36][37]. It has been proved that earthworm could modify the structure, microbial activity and nutrient mineralization in soils [12,[38][39][40][41][42].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earthworm (Eisenia fetida) Mucus Inspired Bionic Fertilizer to Stimulate Maize (Zea mays L.) Growth

Zhang

Truong

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Background: Increasing population and food consumption are placing unprecedented demands on crop production. Maize is one of the most important food crops in the world, the improvement of its yield primarily depends on the application of chemical fertilizer. Methods: Earthworm activity is an essential factor in promoting soil fertility and stimulating plant growth. Inspired by amino acids composition of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) epidermal mucus, the liquid fertilizer was developed and prepared by utilizing a bionic approach. The influence of earthworm epidermal mucus (mucus), the mucus-mimicked mixture of amino acids (bionic fertilizer) and urea fertilizer (urea) on maize emergence and growth were studied and compared with the control group (distilled water). Experimental cultivation tests were conducted. The aforementioned three types of liquid fertilizer effects on maize seed vigor index, seedling emergence rate and plant quality were quantitatively evaluated. Results: Based on the conducted research, it was found that the beneficial effects of different fertilizers for maize emergence rate were ranked as follows: mucus > bionic fertilizer > urea. The low concentration treatments were beneficial to the maize emergence, while the high concentration treatments were helpful to the maize growth and root development. Besides, the lower concentration of mucus was the most effective fertilizer treatment for improving seedling quality. In addition, the test results of three types of liquid fertilizer effects on maize growth indicated that the higher concentration treatments provided more nitrogen nutrition than lower concentration treatments. Furthermore, the maize stem height and diameter were significantly promoted (p < 0.05) by the three types of liquid fertilizer. The beneficial influences of liquid fertilizer treatments for plant height, stem diameter, relative chlorophyll content and photosynthetic characteristic of leaves were ranked as follows: bionic fertilizer > urea > mucus. Conclusions: Bionic fertilizer demonstrated significant beneficial fertilizing effects (p < 0.05), which increased soil nutrients, improved maize physiological parameters, promote its growth and improved dry matter accumulation. The tested results verified the effectiveness of bionic fertilizer on stimulating maize growth.

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Effects of Earthworm Cast Application on Water Evaporation and Storage in Loess Soil Column Experiments

Cited by 14 publications

References 56 publications

Earthworm (Metaphire guillelmi) activities increase the risk of soil erosion – a simulation experiment

Earthworm (Metaphire guillelmi) activities increase the risk of soil erosion – a simulation experiment

Characteristics of Soil Moisture and Evaporation under the Activities of Earthworms in Typical Anthrosols in China

Earthworm (Eisenia fetida) Mucus Inspired Bionic Fertilizer to Stimulate Maize (Zea mays L.) Growth

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