earthworms are an important part of food chain in soil ecosystem. in polluted soils, heavy metals are consumed by earthworms and transferred to other organisms through food chain, resulting in many adverse health impacts. due to the benefits of earthworms for soil fertility, it is important to assess the effects of soil pollution on population, biomass and functions of earthworms. to determine ...

Previous studies indicated that dispersal of S. carpocapsae may be enhanced in soil with earthworms. The objective of this research was to determine and compare the effects of earthworms on dispersal of other Steinernema spp. Vertical dispersal of Steinernema carpocapsae, S. feltiae, and S. glaseri was tested in soil columns in the presence and absence of earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris). Disp...

Methylmercury compounds are very toxic for most organisms. Here, we investigated the potential of earthworms to methylate inorganic-Hg. We hypothesized that the anaerobic and nutrient-rich conditions in the digestive tracts of earthworm's promote the methylation of Hg through the action of their gut bacteria. Earthworms were either grown in sterile soils treated with an inorganic (HgCl2) or org...

1 2 Relationships between anecic earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris and Aporrectodea 3 giardi) and the collembolan species Heteromurus nitidus (Templeton, 1835), which is known 4 to be attracted to earthworms, were investigated in an 8-week laboratory experiment. Our 5 aims were (1) to assess whether earthworms influence the population dynamics of H. nitidus, 6 and (2) to study pathways of influe...

Carbendazim-amended soil was placed above or below unamended soil. Control tests comprised two layers of unamended soil. Allolobophora chlorotica earthworms were added to either the upper or the unamended soil. After 72 h vertical distributions of earthworms were compared between control and carbendazim-amended experiments. Earthworm distributions in the carbendazim-amended test containers diff...

Use of earthworm species to biodegrade various substrates (industrial wastes, agricultural residues, etc.) for composting has proven to be successful after initial stabilization of vermi beds. This study presents optimization of vermi beds (soil + cowdung) for culturing of earthworms (Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae, and Megascolex megascolex.). Optimum proportion of soil + cowdung (1:3) for ...

Excess aluminum (Al) in soils due to acid rain leaching is toxic to water resources and harmful to soil organisms and plants. This study investigated adverse impacts of Al levels upon earthworms (Eisenia fetida) from the latosol (acidic red soil). Laboratory experiments were performed to examine the survival and avoidance of earthworms from high Al concentrations and investigate the response of...

BACKGROUND Earthworms are an ecosystem's engineers, contributing to a wide range of nutrient cycling and geochemical processes in the ecosystem. Their activities can increase rates of silicate mineral weathering. Their intestinal microbes usually are thought to be one of the key drivers of mineral degradation mediated by earthworms,but the diversities of the intestinal microorganisms which were...

Both earthworms and symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) often co-occurr in ecosystems, however very little is known on their interrelationships. Here we tested to what extent earthworms (Annelida) or AMF (Glomales) separately or in combination affect the growth of the pharmaceutical plant species, pot marigold (Calendula officinalis, Asteraceae). We conducted a greenhouse experiment us...