Earthworm effects on soil biogeochemistry in temperate forests focusing on stable isotope tracing: a review

Kim, Gaeun; Jo, Heejae; Kim, Hyung-Sub; Kwon, Minyoung; Son, Yowhan

doi:10.1186/s13765-022-00758-y

Applied Biological Chemistry

Table 1 Studies on earthworm impact of nutrient dynamics using isotope methods conducted in temperate regions

From: Earthworm effects on soil biogeochemistry in temperate forests focusing on stable isotope tracing: a review

Country	Tree species	Earthworm species	Study period	Isotope types	Major findings	References
Ecosystem	Tree species	Earthworm species	Study period	Isotope types	Major findings	References
Japan	Quercus crispula, Cinnamomum camphora, Castanopsis cuspidate var. sieboldii	Metaphire soulensis, Amynthas spp.	1 time measure	¹³C, ¹⁵N	Values of δ¹⁵N increased from litter to humus, to deeper soil; and the value of body tissue was higher in endogeic than in epigeic earthworms. Such ¹⁵N enrichments indicate that the niches of earthworm species were affected from available food sources	Uchida et al. [84]
Evergreen broad-leaved forests		Metaphire soulensis, Amynthas spp.	1 time measure	¹³C, ¹⁵N		Uchida et al. [84]
Ireland	–	Lumbricus festivus	14 days	¹³C, ¹⁵N	Earthworm diet switched from clover (C₃) to maize (C₄); the dietary δ¹³C signature altered more rapidly in the mucus (4‰) than in the tissue (1‰)	Schmidt et al. [86]
Artificial substrate	–	Lumbricus festivus	14 days	¹³C, ¹⁵N		Schmidt et al. [86]
Germany	Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior	Octolasion tyrtaeum	100 days	¹⁴C	Earthworms’ mineralization on ¹⁴C labeled lignin was more pronounced in treatments without (+ 14.1%) than in those with (+ 8.6%) mineral soil (Bw-horizon) because of earthworm’s mixing of soil layers	Marhan & Scheu [97 ]
Deciduous broad-leaved forests	Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior	Aporrectodea caliginosa, Lumbricus terrestris	3 years	¹⁵N	6–14% of ¹⁵N released from leaf-litter was recovered in plants. Earthworms increased plant acquisition of nitrogen from ¹⁵N enriched leaf-litter; and higher degradability of litter resulted in the higher acquisition of nitrogen	Yang et al. [90]
Germany	–	Lumbricus terrestris	7 days	¹³C, ¹⁵N	¹⁵N-labeled earthworms can transfer ¹⁵N through food web, into soil, plants, and aphids. ¹⁵N incorporation was highest in earthworm casts (11,751‰) followed by earthworm tissue (454‰), plant roots (62‰), leaves (50‰), and aphids (37‰)	Grabmaier et al. [89]
Artificial substrate	–	Lumbricus terrestris	7 days	¹³C, ¹⁵N		Grabmaier et al. [89]
United States of America	Acer saccharum, A. rubrum, etc	Lumbricus terrestris	1 time measure	¹³C, ¹⁵N	Earthworm presence decreases δ¹³C of forest floor materials and mineral soil because they prefer leaves as food sources which have higher δ¹³C than stem and twigs	Bohlen et al. [51]
	Acer saccharum	Lumbricus terrestris, Lumbricus rubellus	2 years	¹³C, ¹⁵N	¹³C-labeled litters had higher recovery without (61–68%) than with (20–29%) earthworms. Recovery of ¹⁵N was higher than ¹³C, with lower values for L. terrestris than L. rubellus	Fahey et al. [57]
	No data	Amynthas hilgendorfi, Lumbricus rubellus, etc	21 days	¹³C	Litter carbon-derived soil respiration was reduced by A. hilgendorfi, L. rubellus, and Eisenoides lonnbergi, but not by Octolasion lacteum	Chang et al. [88]
	Acer saccharum	Lumbricus terrestris, Lumbricus rubellus	6 years	¹³C	Earthworms stimulated carbon storage into soil aggregates. Soil food web was more enriched by ¹³C from roots than above-ground plant-litter	Fahey et al. [87]
Deciduous broad-leaved forests	Acer saccharum	Lumbricus terrestris, Lumbricus rubellus	7 months	¹³C, ¹⁵N	¹⁵NO₃⁻ added to the soil was rapidly depleted in the presence of earthworms due to less retention of nitrogen in litter and upper soil layers, but not due to the acceleration of water penetration	Ewing et al. [96]
	Acer saccharum	Community dominated by Lumbricus rubellus	3 years	¹³C, ¹⁵N	¹³C- and ¹⁵N-labeled litter input in earthworm-invaded plots resulted in greater ¹³C and ¹⁵N of microbial biomass than the inorganic nitrogen pool; depletion of carbon and maintenance of soil nitrogen pool are caused by earthworm stimulation of microbial biomass and activity	Groffman et al. [91]
	Populus grandidentata, Quercus rubra, Acer rubrum, etc	Community dominated by Dendrobaena octaedra, Aporrectodea spp., etc	150 days	¹³C, ¹⁵N	Recovery of litter ¹⁵N depends on soil texture; it was greater in sandy loam (98.2%) than in sandy soil (66.2%) after earthworm additions. Earthworm tissue was a minor sink for ¹³C (0.56%) and ¹⁵N (2.26%), which was delivered from surface litter	Crumsey et al. [98]

Back to article page