Earthworms represent an important food source for many vertebrates and as a result, predators may encounter toxic effects via the food chain from consumption of contaminated worms. Therefore, including an assessment of xenobiotic to worms in risk assessment procedures is advisable. Here we studied the acute toxicity, bioaccumulation and elimination of ethofumesate enantiomers in earthworm, Eise...

In spite of the high relevance of lumbricid earthworms ('Oligochaeta': Lumbricidae) for soil structure and functioning, the taxonomy of this group of terrestrial invertebrates remains in a quasi-chaotic state. Earthworm taxonomy traditionally relies on the interpretation of external and internal morphological characters, but the acquisition of these data is often hampered by tedious dissections...

Land use-land cover change and management practices influence earthworm species composition and abundance. The natural and agroecosystems under study in the Indogangetic region have a depauperate earthworm fauna. This study provides evidence that agriculture intensification and soil sodicity can severely influence earthworm diversity, in which natural and less disturbed ecosystems had lower ear...

Abstract Earthworm activity modifies soil structure and promotes important hydrological ecosystem functions for agricultural systems. Earthworms use their flexible hydroskeleton to burrow expand biopores. Hence, is constrained by hydromechanical conditions that permit deformation at earthworm’s maximal hydroskeletal pressure (?200kPa). A mechanistic biophysical model developed here link the bio...

Objective: To evaluate the anthelmintic activity of Artemisia indica. Methods: In the present investigation, the in vitro anthelminthic activity of chloroform, methanol and aqueous extracts of Artemisia indica was carried out against Indian adult earthworm Pheretima posthuma. Piperazine citrate was used as the standard reference. Five different concentrations (1.25, 2.5, 3.75, 5.0 and 6.25 mg/m...

  A new bioactive proline-rich cyclohexapeptide - diandrine C (6), previously isolated from whole plant of Drymaria diandra (Caryophyllaceae), was synthesized through coupling reactions of tetrapeptide unit Boc-Gly-l-Pro-l-Tyr-l-Trp-OH with dipeptide unit l-Pro-Gly-OMe using N,N-diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIPC) as the coupling agent, followed by cyclization of l...

Different extracts of L. cylindrica were taken for anthelmintic activity against Indian earthworm Pheretima posthuma. Two concentrations (50 and 100 mg/ml) of various extracts were tested and results were expressed in terms of time for paralysis and time for death of worms. Albendazole (20 mg/ml) was used as reference standard and carboxy methyl cellulose (0.5%) as a control group. Dose depende...

Earthworms play an active role in soil nitrogen cycling. Past research has shown that earthworm castings are enriched in NO3 ÿ and NH4 + and show a high potential for microbial nitri®cation and denitri®cation. Little information is available on microbial populations and N transformations in the 1±2 mm thick soil lining of earthworm burrows (the drilosphere). We measured nitrifying bacterial pop...

The effects of invasive earthworms on decomposition are little known, and the controls of their effect on decomposition may be different than those of microbes. Sugar maple–dominated forests previously devoid of earthworms in the western Great Lakes region (USA) exhibit different degrees of earthworm invasion, presenting a natural experiment to study its effects on litter decomposition. We hypo...