Soil Biota, Impact on Physical Properties

Boivin, Pascal; Kohler-Milleret, Roxane

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3585-1_145

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The development of sustainable agricultural management systems that deliver a range of ecosystem services would benefit from a full understanding of the impacts of soil fauna on soil properties. Soil macrofauna use the soil as a habitat and a source of food, and consequently, they exert a large influence on the physical properties of soils through the diversity and abundance of the structures they produce (Boivin and Kohler-Milleret 2011). Earthworms change the soil structure by modifying soil aggregation and porosity (Shipitalo and Le Bayon 2004;Blouin et al 2013;Hallam et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of different earthworm ecotypes on water stable aggregates and soil water holding capacity

Hallam

Hodson

2020

Biol Fertil Soils

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We carried out mesocosm experiments using either the anecic earthworm Lumbricus terrestris or the endogeic earthworm Allolobophora chlorotica and loam, silt loam and sandy loam soils to investigate the differing impact of these earthworm of different ecotypes on aggregate formation (percentage water stable aggregates, %WSA) and soil water holding capacity (WHC), two soil properties that underpin many of the ecosystem services provided by soils. Earthworms significantly increased %WSA (by 16-56% and 19-63% relative to earthworm-free controls for L. terrestris and A. chlorotica, respectively). For L. terrestris, this increase was significantly greater in the upper 6.5 cm of the soil where their casts were more obviously present. Allobophora chlorotica treatments significantly increased WHC by 7-16%. L. terrestris only caused a significant increase in WHC (of 11%) in the upper 6.5 cm of the sandy loam soil. Linear regression indicated a consistent relationship between increases in %WSA and WHC for both earthworm species. However, for a given %WSA, WHC was higher for A. chlorotica than L. terrestris likely due to the known differences in their burrow structure. Overall, earthworms increased soil %WSA and WHC but the significant species/ecotype differences need to be considered in discussions of the beneficial impacts of earthworms to soil properties.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of different earthworm ecotypes on water stable aggregates and soil water holding capacity

Hallam

Hodson

2020

Biol Fertil Soils

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“…Earthworms form the major part of soil fauna biomass in most temperate terrestrial ecosystems (Edwards, ). They have long been identified as ecosystem engineers (Boivin & Kohler‐Milleret, ; Lavelle, Bignell, & Lepage, ), and their burrowing activity has been linked to an increased accessible surface area of biopores (Pagenkemper et al, ), infiltrability (Alaoui, Lipiec, & Gerke, ), decreased wettability, altered greenhouse gas‐exchange (Lubbers et al, ), and improved crop growth (Lipiec & Hatano, ) in agroecosystems. Through release of C and N, they induce hotspots with a size from a few millimeters up to several millimeters (drilosphere) with increased microbial and enzyme activity (Kuzyakov & Blagodatskaya, ; Tejada, Gómez, Franco‐Andreu, Hernandez, & García, ; Valchovski, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of earthworm channels and stable cast aggregates (CA) are essential for soil protection against degradation due to sealing, crusting and erosion (Boardman & Poesen, ; Wei et al, ), and compaction (Capowiez et al, ) through improving water infiltration and structural stability (Alaoui et al, ; Horn, ). Furthermore, earthworms are known to accelerate the extraction of organic contaminants from soil (Rodriguez‐Campos, Dendooven, Alvarez‐Bernal, & Contreras‐Ramos, ) contained in fungicides and enhance chelation of metal ions (Cai, Zarda, Mattison, Schonholzer, & Hahn, ; Lavelle et al, ) and thereby to be a good indicator of ‘healthy’ soil (Boivin & Kohler‐Milleret, ). Earthworms are of particular importance in orchards and other nontilled lands (Siczek, Kotowska, Lipiec, & Nosalewicz, ; Smith et al, ) where they are not destroyed by soil disturbance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative interactions between total and specific enzyme activities and C and N contents in earthworm‐affected pear orchard soil

et al. 2018

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The current study describes quantitatively the interactions between (a) activity of extracellular enzymes: β‐glucosidase (BG), protease (Prot), alkaline phosphatase (Alk P), and acid phosphatase (Acid P); (b) intracellular activities: respiration, dehydrogenase activity (DHA); and (c) C and N contents of soil: Corg—organic carbon, Cmic—microbial biomass, ratio Cmic:Corg, Ntot—total nitrogen, and ratio C:N in earthworm‐affected and surrounding loess soil under a pear orchard. The soil tested was collected from: burrow walls (0–3 mm) and a transition zone (3–7 mm) both forming drilosphere, bulk soil (20 mm from the burrow wall), and cast aggregates. The enzyme activities were presented as total ‘tot’ (per gram of dry soil mass) and specific ‘spec’ (per Cmic). It was shown that soil Cmic, basal respiration, BGtot, Prottot, and Alk Ptot were significantly positively correlated with Corg, Cmic:Corg, Ntot, and C:N (r = 0.627–0.976). However, the specific BGspec, Protspec, and Acid Pspec were negatively correlated, while specific respiration (qCO2) and Alk Pspec were not correlated with most soil characteristics. The relationships between DHAtot, DHAspec, and all soil characteristics were positive and had the highest correlation coefficients (r = 0.703–0.989). Response ratio of the enzyme activity was more strongly affected by enzyme activity location (extracellular vs. intracellular) and presentation method (total vs. specific), than by earthworm‐affected soil compartments. The results suggest a need to consider the method of enzyme activity presentation (specific vs. total) that supports understanding ecologically relevant microbial processes in earthworm‐inhabited orchard soils.

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Boosting soil water retention in drought-affected farming: role of beneficial microbes and earthworms

Etesami,

Jin

2025

Sustainable Agriculture Under Drought Stress

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Soil Biota, Impact on Physical Properties

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

Impact of different earthworm ecotypes on water stable aggregates and soil water holding capacity

Impact of different earthworm ecotypes on water stable aggregates and soil water holding capacity

Quantitative interactions between total and specific enzyme activities and C and N contents in earthworm‐affected pear orchard soil

Boosting soil water retention in drought-affected farming: role of beneficial microbes and earthworms

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