Potential Of Earthworms Research Articles

The Potential of Earthworms (Eudrilus eugeniae) in Vermicompost Production from Vegetable Market of Waste Cabbage and Fruit Skins

Traditional markets are one of the highest contributors to waste. Traditional markets can produce a lot of waste, one of the wastes with a large amount is organic waste. The alternative that can be done to deal with organic waste and can be converted into a product is to make compost using the vermicompost method. The aim of this study was to find out the length of time for composting in the manufacture of compost, to determine the optimal amount of Eudrilus eugeniae in the composting process, and to find out the optimal distribution of waste in composting. The incubation process for compost was carried out for 8 weeks, with sampling at weeks 4, 6, and 8. Sampling was carried out to analyze the macronutrient content consisting of C-Organic, nitrogen, and potassium. Content analysis was carried out using UV/VIS spectrophotometry for analysis of C-Organic content, Kjeldahl method for nitrogen content analysis, and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) for potassium content analysis. The specifications for compost from organic waste are based on the Indonesian National Standard (SNI 19-7030-2004). This research resulted in C-Organic content of 6.1-8.1%, nitrogen content of 0.32-0.43%, and potassium content of 0.16-0.23%.

Earthworms increase forest litter mass loss irrespective of deposited compounds - A field manipulation experiment in subtropical forests.

Earthworms modulate carbon and nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, but their effect may be compromised by the deposition of pollutants from industrial emissions. However, studies investigating how deposited compounds affect the role of earthworms in carbon cycling such as litter decomposition are lacking, although the interactions of earthworms and deposited compounds are important for understanding the impact of pollutants on ecosystems and the potential of earthworms in bioremediation. We performed a 365-day in situ litterbag decomposition experiment in a deciduous (Quercus variabilis) and coniferous (Pinus massoniana) forest in southeast China. We manipulated nitrogen (N), sodium (Na), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as model compounds during litter decomposition with and without earthworms (Eisenia fetida). After one year, N, Na, and PAH all slowed down litter mass loss, with the effects of Na being the strongest. By contrast, E. fetida generally increased litter mass loss, and the positive effects were uniformly maintained irrespective of the type of compounds added. However, the pathways to how earthworms increased litter mass loss varied among the compounds added and the two forests studied. As indicated by structural equation modeling, earthworms mitigated the negative effects of deposited compounds by directly increasing litter mass loss and indirectly increasing soil pH and microbial biomass. Overall, the results indicate that the acceleration of litter mass loss by earthworms is little affected by deposited compounds, and that earthworms have the potential to mitigate negative impacts of pollutants on litter decomposition and ecosystem processes.

Analysis of wastes height reduction, macrobiology and microbiology colony (fecal coli) on dry leaves composting process

The scattered leaf wastes can be turned into high nutrition organic fertilizer by utilizing vermicomposting methods. The wastes will be consumed by earthworms reducing the mass of the waste and the excrement can be used as vermicompost. One of the important things regarding the potential of earthworms in vermicomposting is the consumption rate or the decrease in the waste pile heights. Also, the number of microorganism colonies can be determined using the MPN (Most Probable Number) method based on the parameters of fecal coli bacteria in SNI 19-7030-2004. The vermicompost produced in this study comes from banyan leaves (Ficus benjamina) and bamboo leaves (Bambusa bambos). It takes 56 days for the vermicompost to ripen. The decrease in pile heights was measured every three days using a ruler and resulted in an average reduction of 2.18 cm/day for Ficus benjamina leaves and 1.0 cm/day for Bambusa bamboos leaves. Samples of microorganisms were taken on the 28th and 56th day and the MPN value was calculated. The MPN value obtained on the 28th day was 290 MPN/g and on the 56th day was 460 MPN/g, indicating that the colony had reached the predetermined quality standard.

The potential of earthworms in soil carbon storage: a review

The potential of earthworms in soil carbon storage: a review

БИОИНДИКАЦИЯ ПОЧВ ГОРОДА МОСКВЫ С ПОМОЩЬЮ ДОЖДЕВЫХ ЧЕРВЕЙ

Relevance. One of the numerous and representative groups of soil animals-bioindicators, represented in all biogeocenoses - are earthworms. A change in the chemistry of the habitat leads to a change in their numbers. The article presents data on the indicator potential of earthworms in soil contamination with heavy metals. Methods and Results. Sampling of soil and earthworms was carried out in 11 sections of the South-Western Administrative District of the city of Moscow, confined to areas of various technogenic loads. The article presents data on the indicator potential of earthworms in soil contamination with heavy metals. A strong feedback was established between the total soil pollution coefficient and the number of worms, a weak feedback with their mass, and a strong direct relationship with the total concentration coefficient of heavy metals in earthworms.

The potential of earthworm and its components as a therapeutic agent for neuronal damage

The potential of earthworm and its components as a therapeutic agent for neuronal damage

Vermibiotechnology: Relevance, Challenges and Future Prospects for India

In India and other developing countries, management of the urban solid waste is one of the most neglected areas of urban development. In addition, the continuous and indiscriminate use of easily soluble chemical fertilizers in high doses in agriculture has been found to be one of the major factors con-tributing to soil deterioration. Incidentally, earthworms have remarkable capability of effectively degrading waste biomass into vermicompost as their excreta. A major proportion of municipal solid waste generated is organic, which can be used as substrate for vermicomposting thereby minimizing pressure on the landfill sites. As the vermicompost application can significantly improve the soil fertility and in-turn plant health, the potential of earthworms in agriculture was realized soon and they became farmers’ friend. The modern researchers identified the environmental conditions optimal for earthworm activity for their effective utilization in organic waste degradation. Despite the worthwhile significance of vermibiotechnology in mu-nicipal solid waste management and in sustainable agriculture, it has not yet reached effectively to the stakeholders. This review attempts to elaborate the relevance of vermibiotechnology in Indian context for solid waste man-agement and in agriculture. Further, various challenges with respect to using this technology are highlighted. After detailed and critical analysis of the existing scientific literature, we also discuss future prospects of vermibi-otechnology in Indian context.

Potential of earthworm (Eisenia foetida) as dietary protein source for rohu (Labeo rohita) advanced fry

AbstractEarthworm, a non-conventional protein source with 520–530 g protein kg−1 on dry matter basis was used in three forms viz. (i) whole earthworm (ii) earthworm custard, and (iii) pelleted earthworm diet to prepare three iso-nitrogenous (500 g protein kg−1 diet) and iso-caloric (17.0 MJ kg−1 diet) experimental diets. The formulated diets were fed ad libitum twice daily to Labeo rohita advanced fry (0.71 ± 0.04 g) in triplicates for a period of 35 days. In each replicate, 10 fish were stocked. The 300 L fiberglass-reinforced plastic tanks containing 100 L of water with the provision of continuous aeration were used for rearing the fish. At the end of experiment, the weight gain (g), food conversion ratio, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, protein retention efficiency (%), and energy retention efficiency (%) of fish fed pelleted earthworm diet (2.19, 1.58, 4.21, 1.26, 23.0, and 18.6, respectively) was significantly better (p < 0.05) than the corresponding values of whole earthworm (1.53, 2...

Potential of earthworms, ants, millipedes, and termites for dissemination of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil

We studied the effects of earthworms, termites, ants, and millipedes on the dissemination of vesciulararbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) propagules. Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris L.) casts collected from the garden were air-dried, stored, and examined for the presence of VAM fungi by inoculating the cast material onto onion plants grown in sterilized soil. VAM propagules survived for a period of 12 months. The results showed that earth-worms can contribute to the dissemination of VAM propagules. Nests of ants (Camponotus compressus Fabr.) collected from different locations were examined for the presence of VAM propagules. They harboured up to 790 infective propagules g-1 of nest, showing that ants can be potential vectors in disseminating VAM fungi. The faecal pellets of the millipede (Phyllogonostreptus nigrolabiatus Newport) collected from the rearing tank were tested for VAM colonization. Though VAM propagules were present in the fresh faecal pellets, they lost their viability after 4 days of storage. Termitaria samples of both mound-building and subterranean termites were also examined for VAM propagules but those found were non-viable.

The spermatocidal effects of earthworm extract and its effective constituents

Using the IPPF screening method for spermatocides, the spermatocidal effects of earthworm extract were studied experimentally. The results showed that the earthworm extract had remarkable spermatocidal effects in vitro. The characteristics of its spermatocidal effects are: (I) rapidly halting the movement of spermatozoa; (2) driving the spermatozoa into clumps or bunches, resulting in specific agglutination; and (3) showing the same morphological and structural changes under light and electron microscopes. The complex effects of this extract on spermatozoa are possibly due to succinic acid and hyaluronic acid, both of which are constituents of earthworm tissue. It is suggested that the potential of earthworms as a source of new spermatocides is worth further study. These findings on spermatocidal effects of earthworm extract may be very important for family planning and are based on a natural resource: earthworms.