Influence of agricultural intensification on the earthworm community in arable farmland in the North China Plain

Abstract

Two field experiments had been conducted in Huantai County, Shandong Province, east of China, with an effort to understand the impact of agricultural intensification on earthworm diversity and population density. Seven species of earthworms were identified in the two experiments. Average earthworm populations in the higher fertility soil (experiment B, 1.83% organic matter) were relatively abundant, with a population density of 105 indiv./m 2 and biomass of 57 g/m 2. Aporrectae trapezoids was the most dominant species. In the lower fertility soils (experiment A, 1.43% organic matter) the population density was only 51 indiv./m 2 and the average biomass was 30 g/m 2. Drawida gisti was the most dominant species. For both the experiments A and B, organic fertilizer (OF) and crop straw return increased earthworm abundance. The impact of chemical fertilizer (CF) on the earthworm population was found to depend on the amount of organic input. In experiment B, the earthworm biomass decreased when only winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum) straw was input at three CF application levels. However, while both winter wheat straw (WS) and corn ( Zea mays) stalk returned, there was no negative correlation between CF and earthworm density and biomass.