Summary: Role of soil water content in the carbon and nitrogen
dynamics of Lumbricus terrestris L. burrow soil
Jose´ A. Amadora,*, Josef H. Go¨rresa
, Mary C. Savinb
a
Laboratory of Soil Ecology and Microbiology, 024 Coastal Institute in Kingston,
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA
b
Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, 115 Plant Science Building,
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
Received 29 May 2002; accepted 14 June 2004
Abstract
We evaluated the role of soil water content in controlling C and N dynamics within the drilosphere created by the anecic
earthworm Lumbricus terrestris (L.). Mesocosms (volume = 3.1 l) were each amended with corn litter and three earthworms.
Control treatments received no earthworms and no other earthworm species were present in the soil. WET and DRY treatments
received a total of 9.25 cm and 3.25 cm of water, respectively. Water was added on weeks 1, 3, 7, and 10 at a rate of 2.0 cm per
mesocosm for WET treatments and 0.5 cm per mesocosm for DRY treatments. Mesocosms were sampled destructively after
incubation at 18­20 8C for 0, 3, 7, and 13 weeks. The water content of WET burrow soil ranged from 0.12 g gÀ1
to 0.18 g gÀ1
and was significantly higher than in the DRY treatment throughout the incubation period. The live weight of earthworms was

Source: Amador, José A. - Department of Natural Resources Science, University of Rhode Island

Collections: Environmental Management and Restoration Technologies; Environmental Sciences and Ecology