Burrowing activity of the geophagous earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Oligochaeta: Glossoscolecidae) in the presence of charcoal

Topoliantz, Stéphanie; Ponge, Jean‐François

doi:10.1016/s0929-1393(03)00063-5

Cited by 73 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…1c-e) small charcoal particles in earthworm faecies were concentrated at a depth of 8 cm. Supporting evidence for the translocation of charcoal by soil fauna was provided by Topoliantz and Ponge (2003) and Topoliantz et al (2006), who reported, for tropical slashand-burn sites, that earthworms (Pontoscolex corethrurus) could ingest small charcoal particles, preferably mixed with humus, and who suggested a rapid incorporation of charcoal into the soil through earthworms. Thus, the increase in charcoal C in the 0-1 cm layer could be explained by mixing the charcoal particles in the litter layer with soil material, and the Biogeosciences, 4, [377][378][379][380][381][382][383]2007 www.biogeosciences.net/4/377/2007/ E. Eckmeier et al: Changes in soil carbon and charcoal one year after burning 381 decrease in the 2.5-5 cm layer by a translocation of charcoal into soil depths >5 cm.…”

Section: Incorporation Of Charcoal From the Forest Floor Into The Soimentioning

confidence: 89%

Minor changes in soil organic carbon and charcoal concentrations detected in a temperate deciduous forest a year after an experimental slash-and-burn

Eckmeier

Gerlach²,

Skjemstad

et al. 2007

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Anthropogenic fires affected the temperate deciduous forests of Central Europe over millennia. Biomass burning releases carbon to the atmosphere and produces charcoal, which potentially contributes to the stable soil carbon pools and is an important archive of environmental history. The fate of charcoal in soils of temperate deciduous forests, i.e. the processes of charcoal incorporation and transportation and the effects on soil organic matter are still not clear. We investigated the effects of slash-and-burn at a longterm experimental burning site and determined soil organic carbon and charcoal carbon concentrations as well as the soil lightness of colour (L*) in the topmost soil material (0-1, 1-2.5 and 2.5-5 cm depths) before, immediately after the fire and one year later. The main results are that (i) only a few of the charcoal particles from the forest floor were incorporated into the soil matrix, presumably by soil mixing animals. In the 0-1 cm layer, during one year, the charcoal C concentration increased only by 0.4 g kg −1 and the proportion of charcoal C to SOC concentration increased from 2.8 to 3.4%; (ii) the SOC concentrations did not show any significant differences; (iii) soil lightness decreased significantly in the topmost soil layer and correlated well with the concentrations of charcoal C (r=−0.87**) and SOC (r=−0.94**) in the samples from the 0-5 cm layer. We concluded that Holocene biomass burning could have influenced soil charcoal concentrations and soil colour.

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Section: Incorporation Of Charcoal From the Forest Floor Into The Soimentioning

confidence: 89%

Minor changes in soil organic carbon and charcoal concentrations detected in a temperate deciduous forest a year after an experimental slash-and-burn

Eckmeier

Gerlach²,

Skjemstad

et al. 2007

Biogeosciences

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“…Due to animal activity, charcoal is sorted by size and translocated down the soil profile. Mice and earthworms (Eckmeier et al, 2007) and the tropical earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Topoliantz and Ponge, 2003;Topoliantz et al, 2006) had been suggested as responsible for rapid incorporation of charcoal into the soil. Quantitative data are, however, scarce (Table 1).…”

Section: Fire-derived Carbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

Filser

Faber

Tiunov

et al. 2016

SOIL

164

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Abstract. Soil organic matter (SOM) is key to maintaining soil fertility, mitigating climate change, combatting land degradation, and conserving above-and below-ground biodiversity and associated soil processes and ecosystem services. In order to derive management options for maintaining these essential services provided by soils, policy makers depend on robust, predictive models identifying key drivers of SOM dynamics. Existing SOM models and suggested guidelines for future SOM modelling are defined mostly in terms of plant residue quality and input and microbial decomposition, overlooking the significant regulation provided by soil fauna. The fauna controls almost any aspect of organic matter turnover, foremost by regulating the activity and functional composition of soil microorganisms and their physical-chemical connectivity with soil organic matter. We demonstrate a very strong impact of soil animals on carbon turnover, increasing or decreasing it by several dozen percent, sometimes even turning C sinks into C sources or vice versa. This is demonstrated not only for earthworms and other larger invertebrates but also for smaller fauna such as Collembola. We suggest that inclusion of soil animal activities (plant residue consumption and bioturbation altering the formation, depth, hydraulic properties and physical heterogeneity of soils) can fundamentally affect the predictive outcome of SOM models. Understanding direct and indirect impacts of soil fauna on nutrient availability, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and plant growth is key to the understanding of SOM dynamics in the context of global carbon cycling models. We argue that explicit consideration of soil fauna is essential to make realistic modelling predictions on SOM dynamics and to detect expected non-linear responses of SOM dynamics to global change. WePublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 566 J. Filser et al.: Soil fauna: key to new carbon models present a decision framework, to be further developed through the activities of KEYSOM, a European COST Action, for when mechanistic SOM models include soil fauna. The research activities of KEYSOM, such as field experiments and literature reviews, together with dialogue between empiricists and modellers, will inform how this is to be done.

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“…Charcoal additions along with slash-and-burn practices paved the way for the formation of carbon-dense fertile black soils [44] (see Section 3.4). Under this premise, Topoliantz and Ponge [45,46] undertook the evaluation of an earthworm's reaction to charcoal obtained from a slash-and-burn field in laboratory analyses. In these two studies, a geophagous tropical peregrine earthworm, Pontoscolex corethrurus, was presented with pure soil (Oxisol), pure charcoal, or 60% sieved (<2 mm) wood-derived charcoal-soil mixtures, and growth rates, ingestion, burrowing, and casting activity were evaluated.…”

Section: Slash-and-burnmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…for the fishing industry (bait) is known to take place primarily in recently (within days) control-burned forest areas in the Appalachicola National Forest, Florida, USA [64]. Topoliantz and Ponge [45,46] have already shown that P. corethrurus was unaffected by biochar in short-term studies, but field application rates were difficult to discern. As with Husk and Major [75] a low application rate of biochar, particularly one derived from wood, might not have had a substantial effect in the field.…”

Section: Historical Impacts and Other Field Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Observations on earthworm casts and gut materials indicate that charcoal fragments are ingested by earthworms [45,46,71,78]. Topoliantz and Ponge [45] utilized 2-D microcosms to study P. corethrurus activity in soil and charcoal amended soil. Two soils were placed in a plexiglass frame, which enabled viewing of earthworm burrowing and casting activity.…”

Section: Biochar Effects On Earthworm Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Biochar on Earthworm Populations: A Review

Weyers

Spokas

2011

Applied and Environmental Soil Science

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Despite the overwhelming importance of earthworm activity in the soil system, there are a limited number of studies that have examined the impact resulting from biochar addition to soil. Biochar is part of the black carbon continuum of chemothermal converted biomass. This review summarizes existing data pertaining to earthworms where biochar and other black carbon substances, including slash-and-burn charcoals and wood ash, have been applied. After analyzing existing studies on black carbon, we identified that these additions have a range from short-term negative impacts to long-term null effects on earthworm population density and total biomass. Documented cases of mortality were found with certain biochar-soil combinations; the cause is not fully understood, but hypothesized to be related to pH, whether the black carbon is premoistened, affects feeding behaviors, or other unknown factors. With wood ashes, negative impacts were overcome with addition of other carbon substrates. Given that field data is limited, soils amended with biochar did not appear to cause significant long-term impacts. However, this may indicate that the magnitude of short-term negative impacts on earthworm populations can be reduced with time.

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Burrowing activity of the geophagous earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus (Oligochaeta: Glossoscolecidae) in the presence of charcoal

Cited by 73 publications

References 20 publications

Minor changes in soil organic carbon and charcoal concentrations detected in a temperate deciduous forest a year after an experimental slash-and-burn

Minor changes in soil organic carbon and charcoal concentrations detected in a temperate deciduous forest a year after an experimental slash-and-burn

Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

Impact of Biochar on Earthworm Populations: A Review

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