Earthworms are key components of temperate soil ecosystems but key aspects of their ecology remain unexamined. Here we elucidate the role of olfactory cues in earthworm attraction to food sources and document specific chemical cues that attract Eisenia fetida to the soil fungi Geotrichum candidum. Fungi and other microorganisms are major sources of volatile emissions in soil ecosystems as well ...

Soil microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) are expected as an application to produce sustainable energy. Here, we focused on soil ecosystems, specifically the earthworms which are known to improve soil-fertility by degrading fallen leaves or plant litter. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of earthworm on power generation of the SMFC. The maximum power density and the internal res...

BACKGROUND ALTHOUGH MOLECULAR TOOLS ARE INCREASINGLY EMPLOYED TO DECIPHER INVERTEBRATE SYSTEMATICS, EARTHWORM (ANNELIDA: Clitellata: 'Oligochaeta') taxonomy is still largely based on conventional dissection, resulting in data that are mostly unsuitable for dissemination through online databases. In order to evaluate if micro-computed tomography (μCT) in combination with soft tissue staining tec...

Nine toxicity tests were conducted using a procedure based on the OECD (1984) artificial soil earthworm toxicity test. For each test, Eisenia jet ida were exposed to zinc in a range of artificial soils with differing pH and/or organic matter (0 M) content. Earthworm survival and cocoon production, and the concentrations of zinc in two fractions (nitric acid extractable, water extractable) and t...

India produces around 3000 million tones of organic waste annually. This huge volume of waste(s) comes from agriculture, urban and industrial sources and also from domestic activities. Utilization of this waste material for productivity process is important for both economical and environmental reasons. In the present study an effort has been made to asses the efficacy of E. foetida (red tiger ...

Abstract The objective of this study is to investigate the concentration of PCDD/DFs and dioxin-like PCBs in a fallow soil ecosystem and to reveal its bioaccumulation mechanism. Soil, earthworm and lesser Japanese mole (Mogera imaizumi) samples were collected in the two fallow rice fields in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The TEQ concentrations of dioxins in soils (organic carbon base) and earthwo...

A study on the bioremediation potentials of the earthworm Hyperiodrilus africanus (Beddard) in soil contaminated with crude oil was investigated. Dried and sieved soils were contaminated with 5 ml each of crude oil with replicates and inoculated with earthworms and monitored daily for 12 weeks. Physicochemical parameters such as pH, total organic carbon, sulfate, nitrate, phosphate, sodium, pot...

Twenty four study areas of three most widespread soil types (pebble rendzinas, typical brown soils and pseudopodzolic soils) all over Estonia were selected. In each group of soil type, eight fields were selected for studies in 2003–2004. The mean abundance of earthworm communities was the highest in pseudopodzolic soils (107.11±22.4 individuals per m) and lower in pebble rendzinas (47.94±11.25 ...

The utility of temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) as a means of analysing the gut contents of predators was evaluated. Generalist predators consume multiple prey species and a species-specific primer approach may not always be a practical means of analysing predator responses to prey diversity in complex and biodiverse ecosystems. General invertebrate primers were used to amplify t...

Despite recent advances in understanding mechanism of toxicity, the development of biomarkers (biochemicals that vary significantly with exposure to chemicals) for pesticides and environmental contaminants exposure is still a challenging task. Carbofuran is one of the most commonly used pesticides in agriculture and said to be most toxic carbamate pesticide. It is necessary to identify the bioc...