Abstract
The results of studying nitrogen fixation in organic substrates processed by different ecological groups of earthworms suggest that the earthworms Aporrectodea caliginosa actively stimulate nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixation. In this respect, they exceed the manure worms Eizenia foetida tens of times due to the formation in the organic substrate of conditions favorable for the nitrogen fixing bacteria, and namely: low content of nitrogen easily accessible for microorganisms, changes in the structure of the microbial community of the substrate in favor of non-spore forms of bacteria, and suppression of the growth of saprophyte bacilli, the main competitors of nitrogen fixing bacteria for carbon nourishment sources.
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Tereshchenko, N.N., Naplekova, N.N. Influence of Different Ecological Groups of Earthworms on the Intensity of Nitrogen Fixation. Biology Bulletin 29, 628–632 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021736513412
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021736513412