The Role of Earthworms in Tropics with Emphasis on Indian Ecosystems

Kale, Radha D.; Karmegam, Natchimuthu

doi:10.1155/2010/414356

Cited by 51 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In July and December sampling, increase in the B/D ratio for the treatments compared to the control were 200% and 78%, respectively ( Table 2). The earthworm abundance in the soil was greatly impacted by the availability of food source in the soil and physicochemical characteristic of soil, such as soil moisture, soil temperature, nutrient, and soil pH [1,2,6].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Earthworm Population Density in Sugarcane Cropping System Applied with Various Quality of Organic Matter

Nurhidayati¹,

Arisoesilaningsih²,

Suprayogo³

et al. 2012

JTLS

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Earthworms population in the soil are greatly impacted by agricultural management, yet little is known about how the quality and quantity of organic matter addition interact in sugarcane cropping system to earthworm population. This study describes the effect of various organic matter and application rates on earthworms in sugarcane cropping system. Earthworms were collected in April, July and December from 48 experimental plots under five kinds of organic matter application : (1) cattle manure, (2) filter cake of sugar mill, (3) sugarcane trash, (4) mixture of cattle manure+filter cake, and (5) mixture of cattle manure+sugarcane trash. There were three application rates of the organic matter (5, 10, and 15 ton ha -1 ). The treatments were arranged in factorial block randomize design with three replications and one treatment as a control (no organic input). Earthworms were collected using monolith sampling methods and hand-sorted from each plot, and measured its density (D) (indiv.m -2 ), biomass (B) (g m -2 ) and B/D ratio (g/indiv.). All the plots receiving organic matter input had higher earthworm density, biomass, and B/D ratio than the control. The highest earthworm population density was found in the plot receiving application of sugarcane trash (78 indiv.m -2 ) and the mixture of cattle manure+sugarcane trash (84 indiv.m -2 ). The increase in application rates of organic matter could increase the earthworm density and biomass. Earthworm population density also appeared to be strongly influenced by the quality of organic matter, such as the C-organic, N, C/N ratio, lignin, polyphenols, and cellulose content. Earthworm preferred low quality organic matter. It was caused by the higher energy of low quality organic matter than high quality organic matter. Our finding s suggest that the input of low quality organic matter with application rate as 10 ton ha -1 is important for maintaining earthworm population and soil health in sugarcane land.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That depends on the physicochemical characteristic of the soil and the climatic [1,2]. The change in soil characteristic can influence earthworm's abundance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earthworm Population Density in Sugarcane Cropping System Applied with Various Quality of Organic Matter

Nurhidayati¹,

Arisoesilaningsih²,

Suprayogo³

et al. 2012

JTLS

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“…Therefore, it promoted the growth and development of different microbial populations upon gut passage. Previous studies had documented higher microbial populations in soil and drilospheres enriched with earthworm mucus compared to surrounding soil [21,27,28]. However, the results vary depending on the earthworm species, and the extent to which microbial population that is associated to this alteration is not known.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

In-Vitro Study on the Effect of Endogeic Earthworm on Blood Disease Bacterium (BDB) in Banana- A Preliminary Observation

Teng

Aziz

Mustafa

et al. 2016

The Asia Journal of Applied Microbiology

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Blood disease is a wilt disease that greatly affects the banana cultivation. Besides chemicals, the utilization of natural soil-biological entity may provide an alternative in searching for effective and environmental friendly approach against the disease. Endogeic earthworms are known as soil-engineers that modify soil properties that may favor or suppress different microbial populations. In the study, the effect of endogeic earthworm, Pontoscolex corethrurus on blood disease bacterium (BDB) was evaluated through in-vitro study. Earthworm casts, mucus and worm-worked soil collected were inoculated onto tetrazolium chloride (TZC) medium seeded with BDB at different concentrations. Molecular identification using 16S rRNA primers was then performed to identify the microbial isolates that inhibited BDB. Phylogenetic tree was constructed to determine the similarity among the isolates with Pseudomonas sp. sequences deposited in the GenBank. The results showed that bacterial colonies from earthworm mucus inhibited BDB at 10 3 and 10 5 cell/ml. However, no inhibition was observed at higher BDB concentration (10 7 cell/ml). Similarly, earthworm cast and worm-worked soil did not show inhibition towards BDB. Bacterial isolates obtained from earthworm mucus were classified into the genus Pseudomonas. The study suggested the potential role of P. corethrurus in enhancing the growth of beneficial microorganism in remediating blood disease.

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“…In many regions, the type of vegetation is the major biotic factor which directly influences the distribution and diversity of earthworms in the soil (Ramanujam, Roy, & Jha, 2000). The earthworms population vary in size ranging from only few individuals (sometimes totally absent) to more than 1000/m 2 , which depends on the physico-chemical characteristic of the soil and the climatic (Kale & Karmegam, 2010;Lee, 1985). The change in soil texture and characteristic can influence the population of earthworm.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Sankar

Patnaik

2018

JoBAZ

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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.

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The Role of Earthworms in Tropics with Emphasis on Indian Ecosystems

Cited by 51 publications

References 44 publications

Earthworm Population Density in Sugarcane Cropping System Applied with Various Quality of Organic Matter

Earthworm Population Density in Sugarcane Cropping System Applied with Various Quality of Organic Matter

In-Vitro Study on the Effect of Endogeic Earthworm on Blood Disease Bacterium (BDB) in Banana- A Preliminary Observation

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

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