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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.08.018 |
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| Web URL(s): | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003807171400296X#
Last checked: 11/21/2014
Access conditions: Item is within a limited-acess website |
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| Publication Type:
| Refereed |
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| Author(s): | Vos, Hannah M. J.;
Ros, Mart B. H.;
Koopmans, Gerwin F.;
Willem van Groenigen, Jan |
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| Author Affiliation: | Department of Soil Quality, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands |
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| Title: | Do earthworms affect phosphorus availability to grass? A pot experiment |
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| Source: | Soil Biology & Biochemistry. Vol. 79, December 2014, p. 34-42. |
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| Publishing Information: | Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier |
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| # of Pages: | 9 |
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| Keywords: | TIC Keywords: Earthworms; Fertilization program; Fertilizer evaluation; Lolium perenne; Nutrient availability; Phosphorus; Phosphorus fertilizers; Soil management
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| Abstract/Contents: | "The largest part of phosphorus (P) in soil is bound by the soil solid phase; its release to the soil solution therefore often does not meet the demand of plants. Since global P fertilizer reserves are declining, it becomes increasingly important to better utilize soil P. We tested whether earthworm activity can increase P availability to grass (Lolium perenne L.) in a 75-day greenhouse pot experiment in a soil with low P availability. The full factorial design included two factors: P fertilization (control without P; phytate; and inorganic P) and earthworm population (control without earthworms; Lumbricus rubellus Hoffmeister, Lr; Aporrectodea caliginosa Savigny, Ac; and Lumbricus terrestris L., Lt). At four times during the experiment, aboveground plant growth and P uptake were determined. In a separate incubation experiment, earthworm casts and bulk soil were analyzed for inorganic and organic P in water extracts. We observed higher levels of dissolved P pools (p < 0.001) in the water extracts of earthworm casts compared to those of the bulk soil. The magnitude of the difference differed between earthworm species, with the largest levels for Lr: from <0.02 to 8.56 mg L-1 for inorganic P (p = 0.007) and from 0.18 to 1.30 mg L-1 for organic P (p = 0.007). After three harvests, presence of Lt significantly increased P uptake by grass to 44.1 mg per pot compared to 41.8 mg per pot for the control (p = 0.010). Plant growth increased from 15.68 to 16.85 g dry biomass per pot (p < 0.001). We conclude that earthworms casts contain higher levels of plant available P than the bulk soil, and that this might translate into increased plant P uptake. It is well-known that maintaining soil faunal biodiversity is important for a variety of ecosystem services; our results show that these ecosystem services may include improving the utilization of soil P in a world with rapidly declining P stocks." |
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| Language: | English |
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| References: | 77 |
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| Note: | Interactive map appears online only
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| ASA/CSSA/SSSA Citation (Crop Science-Like - may be incomplete):
Vos, H. M. J., M. B. H. Ros, G. F. Koopmans, and J. Willem van Groenigen. 2014. Do earthworms affect phosphorus availability to grass? A pot experiment. Soil Biol. Biochem. 79:p. 34-42. |
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| DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.08.018 |
| Web URL(s):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003807171400296X#
Last checked: 11/21/2014
Access conditions: Item is within a limited-acess website |
| 
MSU catalog number: b2217194 |
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