Abstract
WHILE investigating the removal of leaves by earthworms from the soil surface of some apple orchards at Wisbech (Cambs.) an estimate of the population of Lumbricus terrestris was needed because it seemed to be the only species present that pulled apple leaves into its burrows. L. terrestris burrows deeply in the light, well-drained soil of the Wisbech area, and a population estimate made by removing and hand-sorting soil samples was impracticable because of the depth of the burrows into which the worms retreat when soil samples are removed. The permanganate method used by Evans and Guild1 has been shown by Svendsen2 greatly to under-estimate the population and my tests at Wisbech confirmed this.
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References
Evans, A. C., and Guild, W. J. McL., Ann. App. Biol., 34, 307 (1947).
Svendsen, J. A., Nature, 175, 864 (1955).
Waters, R. A. S., N.Z.J. Sci. Tech., 36, A, 516 (1955).
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RAW, F. Estimating Earthworm Populations by Using Formalin. Nature 184, 1661–1662 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1841661a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1841661a0
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