Effects of earthworm (Metaphire guillelmi) addition on soil aggregate
organic carbon content and clover root characteristics
Abstract
Earthworms can variously affect soil properties and resource
availability by feeding, burrowing, and casting activities. Figuring out
the relationship among earthworms, soil and plant properties is
beneficial for understanding the ecological functions of earthworms.
Different densities of earthworms (high density, HDE; medium density,
MDE; low density, LDE; control, CK) in soil columns were studied to
reveal how earthworms influence soil physical and chemical properties
and clover plant growth. The results showed that earthworms increased
the large and medium aggregate content and decreased the microaggregate
content. Soil aggregates in MDE were the most stable. Both the mean mass
diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter of soil aggregates increased
with the densities of earthworms. The average contents of soil organic
carbon (SOC) in large-, medium-, and micro-aggregates were 5.5, 4.2, and
4.2 g kg-1 in the treatments with earthworms. There was a significant
correlation between SOC content and macroaggregate organic carbon
content. The root characteristic values of earthworm-treated clover were
significantly higher than those of the control. The clover root indexes
were positively correlated with the SOC content and soil aggregates. We
considered that earthworms altered the soil aggregate contents and
promoted soil organic carbon storage, and thus promote the development
of vegetation roots. This study provides scientific supports for a
deeper understanding of the mechanism of earthworms on soil carbon
storage.