Unrestricted use of herbicides to control weeds in agriculture causes a decrease sensitive individual populations soil biota, among which Lumbricus terrestris should be noted. Because they make up fairly significant part the living biomass and play an important role functioning soil. The continuous-acting can cause not only 100% lethality, but also affect functioning, growth, reproduction habit...

In previous papers (Roberts, 1962 a, b) the earthworm's rapid response, mediated through the giant-fibre reflex, was described and analysed. In the course of these experiments it was noticed that in the early stages of repetitive stimulation successive responses do not remain the same size but show a marked tendency to increase in magnitude. This staircase effect is particularly pronounced in f...

BACKGROUND Recent studies suggested that the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris might act as a seedling predator by ingesting emerging seedlings, and individuals were observed damaging fresh leaves of various plant species in the field. To evaluate the significance of herbivore behavior of L. terrestris for plant and earthworm performance we exposed 23- to 33-days-old seedlings of six plant species...