Earthworm Ecology

Front Cover
Clive A. Edwards
CRC Press, 2004 M03 29 - 456 pages
Earthworm Ecology, Second Edition updates the most comprehensive work available on earthworm ecology with extensive revisions of the original chapters. New chapters analyze the history of earthworm research, the importance of earthworms as representatives of soil fauna and how they affect plant growth, the effects of the invasion of exotic earthworms into North America and other regions, and vermiculture and vermicomposting in Europe.This well-illustrated, expansive study examines the important and often overlooked impact earthworms have on the environment. It discusses the impact of climate, soil properties, predation, disease and parasitism, and competition upon earthworm ecology.

From inside the book

Contents

Chapter 1 The Importance of Earthworms as Key Representatives of the Soil Fauna
3
Burrowing into the Mechanisms
13
Earthworm Taxonomy Diversity and Biogeography
51
Chapter 3 Planetary Processes and Their Interactions with Earthworm Distributions and Ecology
53
Chapter 4 The Status of Earthworm Biogeography Diversity and Taxonomy in North America Revisited with Glimpses into the Future
63
Chapter 5 Invasion of Exotic Earthworms into North America and Other Regions
75
Earthworm Biology Ecology Behavior and Physiology
89
Chapter 6 Factors Affecting the Abundance of Earthworms in Soils
91
Interactions of Earthworms with Microorganisms Invertebrates and Plants
211
Chapter 12 Functional Interactions between Earthworms Microorganisms Organic Matter and Plants
213
Chapter 13 Impacts of Earthworms on Other Biota in Forest Soils with Some Emphasis on Cool Temperate Montane Forests
241
Earthworms in Agroecosystems
261
Chapter 14 Managing Earthworms as a Resource in Australian Pastures
263
Research Approaches
287
Earthworms and Environemtal Pollution
297
Chapter 16 Earthworms as Test Organisms in Ecotoxicological Assessment of Toxicant Impacts on Ecosystems
299

Chapter 7 A Comprehensive Study of the Taxonomy and Ecology of the Lumbricid Earthworm Genus Octodrilus from the Carpathians
115
Influence of Earthworms on Soil Organic Matter Dynamics Nutrient Dynamics and Microbial Ecology
143
Chapter 8 Effects of Earthworms on Soil Organic Matter and Nutrient Dynamics at a Landscape Scale over Decades
145
Chapter 9 Integrating the Effects of Earthworms on Nutrient Cycling across Spatial and Temporal Scales
161
Effects of Earthworms on Soil Physical Properties and Function
181
Chapter 10 Quantifying the Effects of Earthworms on Soil Aggreation and Porosity
183
Chapter 11 Effects of Earthworms on Soil Organization
201
Chapter 17 Earthworms in Environmental Research
321
Earthworms in Waste Management
343
Chapter 18 The Use of Earthworms in the Breakdown of Organic Wastes to Produce Vermicomposts and Animal Feed Protein
345
Natures Gift for Utilization of Organic Wastes in Asia
381
Chapter 20 StateoftheArt and New Perspectives on Vermicomposting Research
401
Index
425
Copyright

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Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 14 - Earth-worms, though in appearance a small and despicable link in the chain of nature, yet, if lost, would make a lamentable chasm. For, to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds which are almost entirely supported by them, worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation...
Page 14 - ... worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, which would proceed but lamely without them, by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, by drawing straws and stalks of leaves and twigs into it; and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which, being their excre105 ment, is a fine manure for grain and grass.
Page 183 - For, to say nothing of half the .birds, >and some quadrupeds, which are almost entirely supported by them, worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, which would proceed but lamely without them, by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, by drawing straws and stalks of leaves and twigs into it, and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm- casts, which, being their excrement, is a fine...
Page 14 - Gardeners and farmers express their detestation of worms ; the former because they render their walks unsightly, and make them much work ; and the latter because, as they think, worms eat their green corn. But these men would find that the earth without worms would soon become cold, hard-bound, and void of fermentation, and consequently sterile...
Page 120 - A subspecies is an aggregate of phenotypically similar populations of a species, inhabiting a geographic subdivision of the range of the species, and differing from other populations of the species.
Page 316 - Report of the second stage in development of a standardized laboratory method for assessing the toxicity of chemical substances to earthworms.
Page 320 - Van Gestel, CAM, Van Dis, WA, Van Breemen, EM and Sparenburg, PM (1989). Development of a standardized reproduction toxicity test with the earthworm species Eisenia andrei using copper, pentachlorophenol and 2,4dichloroaniline.
Page 109 - U. and Lofs-Holmin, A. 1986. Growth of earthworms (Allolobophora caliginosa) fed shoots and roots of barley, meadow fescue and lucerne. Studies in relation to particle size, protein, crude fibre content and toxicity, Pedobiologia, 29, 1-12.
Page 235 - Jenkinson, DS, and JN Ladd. 1981. Microbial biomass in soil: measurement and turnover, p.
Page 199 - Shipitalo, MJ, WM Edwards, WA Dick, and LB Owens. 1990. Initial storm effects on macropore transport of surface-applied chemicals in no-till soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.

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