Changes of geochemical composition of soils related to the formation of mold by earthworm activity

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  • ミミズの土壌形成に伴う元素組成の変化について
  • ミミズ ノ ドジョウ ケイセイ ニ トモナウ ゲンソ ソセイ ノ ヘンカ ニ ツイテ

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Abstract

Changes of geochemical composition of mold by activity of earthworms have been examined by comparison of soils and fecal pellets of earthworms. They were collected from the Samta village, Bangladesh and three localities in San'in district, southwest Japan. The castings of the Samta earthworms are one of the largest pellets of the world, consisting of thick-walled tube shapes with more than 8cm length and about 3cm in diameter. The wall is composed of light brownish grey silty mud gradually become hardened when they are dried. In general fecal pellets of the Japanese earthworms are dark grey color, irregular round shaped with 2-5mm in diameter. They are relatively fragile, and softer than those of the Bangladesh. Major and trace elements were analyzed using XRF, and geochemical compositions of casting and pellets of earthworms were compared with those of the underlying soils at each site. The Samta earthworm casting shows depletion in Ca, As, Pb, Cu and Zn, but there are no significant anomalies in other elements compared to composition of soils. Earthworm pellets of the two examples in Japan show depletion in As, Pb and Cu relative to in situ soil composition, but Zn does not show significant variation from the soils in all examples. These earthworm pellets show enrichments in Ca in two examples suggesting an effect of preventing from acid soil formation. These compositional variations between earthworm products and soils suggest significant remediation of As and Pb for mold by earthworm activities.

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