Impact of soil physico-chemical properties on distribution of earthworm populations across different land use patterns in southern India

Abstract

Background: The distribution of earthworms is usually diverse and their population fluctuates in relation to the different physico-chemical properties and land use patterns of the soil of southern parts of India. This particular study examined distribution and relative abundance of earthworms under different land use patterns and their influence on the physico-chemical properties of the soil. We measured the species composition of earthworm communities across the three different land use ecosystems and effect of abiotic factors on them from various ecological regions of southern India (southern Odisha). Methods: The linear relationship between different physico-chemical parameters of soil across three land use types and earthworm density is obtained by Pearson correlation analysis in the months of June to September. The association of physico-chemical parameters of different habitats with earthworm populations is analyzed using two-way ANOVA. Principal component analysis is (PCA) used to characterize the effect of different soil properties on the distribution of earthworm populations across three different habitats. Results: A total of ten species of earthworms belonging to five families were identified. Four species of earthworms are identified, i.e., Pontodrilus bermudensis, Parionyx excavates, Pheretima alexandri, Lampito mauritii, most abundantly in forest lands, while the other six species are mostly found in agriculture and grass land. The earthworm density is significantly correlated (P < 0.01) with the availability of organic OC, total nitrogen, phosphorus, and water holding capacity across the three habitats, the forest land in particular. Both ANOVA and PCA results revealed a significant impact of habitat conditions on the soil physico-chemical properties as well as earthworm density. Conclusions: This particular study has provided new information regarding the influence of different earthworm population on abiotic factors of soil across three land use patterns. It is also noticed that the distribution of earthworm was higher in forest lands and followed by grasslands having high organic manure rather than agricultural land.

Habitat components and population density drive plant litter consumption byEudrilus eugeniae(Oligochaeta) under tropical conditions

“…Total nitrogen and organic matter under refuse disposal soils were two to three fold higher than that in agricultural and savannah soils (Table 1). Evidence of earthworm population influencing soil physical and chemical properties has been shown, particularly regarding such parameters as soil structure, water holding capacity, organic carbon, total nitrogen and phosphorus (Sankar & Paitnak 2018). The magnitude of earthworm influence, nevertheless, varies between species and/or ecophysiological groups.…”

Quality of soil from the nickel mining area of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, engineered using earthworms (Pheretima sp.)

“…The modification of these structures through channels is formed by the movement of earthworms accompanied by the formation of various classes of aggregates that are unstable (Barré et al, 2009;Zhu et al, 2020). The physico-chemical changes associated with the formation of these new structures could include soil pH, C, N, P, C/N, K, and CEC, and these depend on species, soil type, and land use (Sankar and Patnaik, 2018;Bottinelli et al, 2020;Tamartash and Ehsani, 2021). Nadalia and Pulunggona (2020) reported that the soil pH without topsoil at a depth of 0-20 cm is in the range of 5.61 -6.69 in the mining area of Soroako, South Sulawesi.…”

The use of soil biostructures created by soil fauna ecosystem engineers fed with different organic matterials as inoculum source of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi on cocoa seedling

“…This indicates the AMF spore density increased with increasing earthworm-ant ratio, confirming the presence of ants plays an important role in improving the soil pH, organic-C, N, and P contents (Almeida et al, 2019;Boots et al, 2012). Therefore, improved pH, organic-C, N, and P through bioturbation by ants,createsmore suitable conditions for earthworm activity to form new biostructures (Sankar & Patnaik, 2018;Taylor et al, 2019). In addition, the biostructures' environmental condition derived from the treatments modulates the growth of AMF spore populations (de Menezes et al, 2018;Lucas et al, 2017).…”