The effects of cereal straw management practices on lumbricid earthworm populations

• Published in: Applied soil ecology : a section of Agriculture, ecosystems & environment ecosystems & environment, 1998-09, Vol.9 (1), p.369-373
• Main Authors: Fraser, P.M, Piercy, J.E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CEREALS; CROP RESIDUES; Earthworms; LUMBRICIDAE; NEW ZEALAND; POPULATION DYNAMICS; Seasonal fluctuations; SEASONAL VARIATION; SOIL FAUNA; SOIL MANAGEMENT; STRAW; Straw residues
• ISSN: 0929-1393; 1873-0272
• DOI: 10.1016/S0929-1393(98)00091-2

The effects of adding or removing cereal crop residues on the lumbricid earthworm population were investigated in a field trial in Canterbury, New Zealand. During the 4 yr study cereal crops were grown annually, and after harvest the cereal straw residue was either baled and removed, burnt, or incorporated into the soil. In an additional undersown treatment, cereal crops were grown in alternate years and were undersown with either a grass or a clover seed crop. Six earthworm species were present. Overall, taking seasonal changes into account, there was a gradual decline in both the size of the total earthworm populations and earthworm biomass over the first 4 yr of the experiment in the continuous cereal treatments. Burning and removing straw had similar effects on earthworm numbers. However, by year 4 there were considerably more earthworms in the incorporation treatment plots, indicating that there may be some long term effects of straw management on earthworm populations. In the treatment undersown with clover seed, the earthworm numbers, biomass and species diversity increased dramatically in the fourth year. This may be attributed to the clover plants providing a suitably moist and cool microclimate conducive for earthworm survival, and the high protein content of the clover plants providing a rich food source for the earthworms and the microorganisms.