Search results for "Enchytraeidae"
showing 5 items of 15 documents
Decomposer animal communities in forest soil along heavy metal pollution gradient
1996
Responses of soil decomposer animals to heavy metal contamination and to concomitant changes in organic matter quality and quantity and in soil microbial biomasses have been studied along a pollution gradient from a Cu-Ni smelter. Samples have been taken separately for nematodes, enchytraeids and microarthropods 0.5, 2 and 8 km from the smelter. Special attention has been paid to the changes in the collembolan fauna. The sampling sites have been located in homogeneous Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris) forests with podsolic soil profiles. In addition, an experiment has been carried out in which intact soil cores have been transferred in mesh baskets between the sites 2 and 8 km from the smelter…
A microcosm study on the respiration and weight loss in birch litter and raw humus as influenced by soil fauna
1988
The effect of diverse soil fauna (Collembola, Acari, Enchytraeidae, Nematoda) on decomposition of dead organic matter was studied in microcosms containing (1) birch leaf litter, (2) raw humus of coniferous forest and (3) litter on humus. Total respiration (CO2 evolution) was monitored weekly, and mass loss, length of fungal hyphae (total and metabolically active) and survival of animal populations were checked at the end of weeks 12 and 21–22 from the start of experiment. Animal populations established themselves well during the incubation. At the end of the experiment some replicates containing litter had microarthropod densities of up to 500 specimens per microcosm, corresponding to a fie…
Activity and role of the enchytraeid worm Cognettia sphagnetorum (Vejd.) (Oligochaeta: Enchytraeidae) in organic and mineral forest soil
2003
Summary Site preparation following clear felling of coniferous forest creates a mosaic of different kinds of habitats for soil decomposers, ranging from bare mineral soil to thick layers of organic soil and felling residues. To study whether the impact of enchytraeids on nutrient mineralisation processes is different in residues, organic layer, and mineral soil, a microcosm experiment was conducted in the laboratory. Microcosms contained mineral soil (sand) alone or with soil organic layer (humus and F-layer materials) and spruce needles, either separately or together. Enchytraeids (Cognettia sphagnetorum) were introduced to the half of the microcosms. Numbers of enchytraeids, their gut con…
Influence of Cognettia sphagnetorum (Enchytraeidae) on birch growth and microbial activity, composition and biomass in soil with or without wood ash
2001
In this laboratory study using microcosms with seedlings of silver birch (Betula pendula), we explored whether Cognettia sphagnetorum (Enchytraeidae) can retain its important role of accelerating decomposition processes in soils and stimulating primary production under disturbance. We established systems with or without wood ash amendment (first-order disturbance) in the soil, either in the presence or absence of C. sphagnetorum. To test whether the systems treated with wood ash are more sensitive to an additional disturbance than the ash-free systems, the microcosms were later on disturbed by drought. To determine the influence of two disturbances on the enchytraeids and populations of oth…