Abstract
Topsoils affected by surface mining suffer severe physical degradation and lose most of their earthworm populations. After mining, replaced soils are planted to grassland and managed to improve soil structure. Earthworm inoculation into selected restored areas produced populations similar to those of undisturbed soils within 3 years. Soil properties in inoculated areas were compared with those of controls to evaluate the contribution of casts to bulk soil aggregation, and soil organic matter and root content responses to earthworm activity. Crumb porosity and coarse particle content were measured in water-stable macro-aggregates and earthworm casts to establish whether aggregates were formed by earthworms. Over a 5- to 6-year period, inoculation increased stable aggregation (>2 μm, >60 μm and >3 mm), even at 0- to 5-cm depth where it reduced soil organic matter content. Productivity and root content were also increased by inoculation; roots and organic matter were re-distributed to greater depth. Crumb porosity decreased with casts > aggregates (inoculated plots) > aggregates (control plots). Coarse particle content increased with casts < aggregates (inoculated plots) < aggregates (control plots). Coarse particle and porosity data were consistent with much of the newly aggregated soil being processed and formed by earthworms as casts. Whilst levels of soil organic matter were often closely associated with percentage stable aggregation, root content showed weaker associations. Aggregation percentage was most closely associated with abundance of Aporrectodea longa, although at particular depths significant correlations were also obtained for Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus terrestris. Results suggest that earthworms, rather than plant roots, initiate aggregation in severely degraded grassland soils.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ball DF (1964) Loss on ignition as an estimate of organic matter and organic carbon in non-calcareous soils. J Soil Sci 15:84–92
Edwards CA, Bohlen PJ (1996) Biology and ecology of earthworms, 3rd edn. Chapman and Hall, London
Gorres JH, Savin MC, Amador JA (2001) Soil micropore structure and carbon mineralisation in burrows and casts of an anecic earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris). Soil Biol Biochem 33:1881–1887
Haynes RJ, Fraser PM (1998) A comparison of aggregate stability and biological activity in earthworms casts and uningested soil as affected by amendment with wheat and lucerne straw. Eur J Soil Sci 49:629–636
Hoogerkamp M, Rogaar H, Eijsackers HJP (1983) Effect of earthworms on grassland on recently reclaimed polder soils in the Netherlands. In: Satchell JE (ed) Earthworm ecology. Chapman and Hall, London, pp 85–106
King JA (1988) Some physical features of soil after opencast mining. Soil Use Manage 4:23–30
Larink O, Werner D, Langmaack M, Schrader S (2001) Regeneration of compacted soil aggregates by earthworm activity. Biol Fertil Soils 33:395–401
Lee KE, Foster RC (1991) Soil fauna and soil structure. Aust J Soil Res 29:745–776
MAFF (1986) The analysis of agricultural materials. (Technical bulletin 27) HMSO, London
Manugistics (1992) Statistical graphics system: version 5.0: example manual. Manugistics, Statistical Graphics Corporation, Rockville, Md.
Marinissen JCY (1994) Earthworms and stability of soil structure. A study in a silt loam soil in a young Dutch polder. Agric Ecosyst Environ 51:75–87
McColl HP, Hart PBS, Cook FJ (1982) The influence of earthworms on some soil chemical and physical properties and the growth of ryegrass on a soil after topsoil stripping—a pot experiment. N Z J Agric Res 25:239–243
Oades JM (1993) The role of biology in formation, stabilisation and degradation of soil structure. Geoderma 56:377–400
Reid JB, Goss MJ (1981) The effect of living roots of different plant species on the aggregate stability of two arable soils. J Soil Sci 32:521–541
Rushton SP (1986) Development of earthworm populations on pasture land reclaimed from opencast coal mining. Pedobiologia 29:27–32
Schrader S, Zhang HQ (1997) Earthworm casting: stabilisation or destabilisation of soil structure? Soil Biol Biochem 29:469–475
Scullion J (1994) Restoring farmland after coal. British Coal Opencast, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Scullion J, Malik A (2000) Earthworm activity affecting organic matter, aggregation and microbial activity in soils restored after opencast mining for coal. Soil Biol Biochem 32:119–126
Scullion J, Mohammed ARA, Richardson H (1988) Changes in earthworm populations following cultivation of undisturbed and former opencast coal mining land. Agric Ecosyst Environ 20:289–302
Shipitalo MJ, Protz R (1988) Factors influencing the dispersibility of clay in worm casts. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:764–769
Sims RW, Gerard BM (1985) Synopses of the British fauna (new series no. 31). Earthworms. Linnean Society, London
Stewart VI, Salih RO (1981) Priorities of soil use in temperate climates. In: Stonehouse B (ed) Biological husbandry. Butterworths, London, pp 19–38
Stockdill SMJ (1982) Effects of introduced earthworms on the productivity of New Zealand pastures. Pedobiologia 24:29–35
Tisdall JM, Oades JM (1982) Organic matter and water-stable aggregates in soils. J Soil Sci 33:141–163
Winsome T, McColl JG (1998) Changes in chemistry and aggregation of a California forest soil worked by the earthworm Argilophilus papillifer Eisen (Megascolecidae). Soil Biol Biochem 30:1677–1687
Zhang HQ, Schrader S (1993) Earthworm effects on selected physical and chemical properties of soil aggregates. Biol Fertil Soils 15:229–234
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marashi, A.R.A., Scullion, J. Earthworm casts form stable aggregates in physically degraded soils. Biol Fertil Soils 37, 375–380 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0617-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0617-2