Earthworms and long-term straw management practices interactively affect soil carbon and nitrogen forms across soil depths

Does biochar and earthworm interactively influence soil organic carbon fractions and β-glucosidase activity in a calcareous soil?

“…Therefore, as mentioned above, earthworms not only may accelerate the decomposition of organic matter, but also they may stabilize organic matter by aggregate formation. Nevertheless, the net effect of these adverse processes (C mineralization and stabilization) induced by earthworms, changes the total amount of SOC and its forms(Xu et al, 2023).Our results also indicated that the labile C fractions (especially MBC) are more sensitive to earthworminduced changes than SOC and can be more informative regarding the C dynamic in earthworm-worked soils. This is in keeping with the results of other studies, which demonstrated that MBC responds much more quickly to changing environmental conditions and can provide an early indication of slow changes in organic C content(Brookes et al, 2008;Jiang-shan et al, 2005;Powlson et al, 1987).…”

“…Earthworms are considered as common soil ecosystem engineers that may affect the distribution and transformation of SOC through their activities including feeding, burrowing, transportation and excretion (Blouin et al, 2013;Xu et al, 2023). However, their population and activities are dependent on the composition of organic inputs in soil.…”

“…Nevertheless,Caravaca and Roldan (2003) stated that earthworms increase the degradation of organic residue, causing an increase in the WSC. It is also recognized that earthworm activities, such as feeding, digestion, mucus secretion, excretion, and burrowing may enhance microbial biomass by altering the microhabitat and nutrient status(Xu et al, 2023). The earthworm along with its associated microbial community produce a variety of digestive enzymes, incuding polysacharidases, glycosidases and peroxidases, and consequently stimulate mineralization of organic matter (De Menezes et al, 2018).…”