Investigation into the effects of Lumbricus rubel/us on soil pH
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Authors
Gardner, Ryan
Issue Date
2008
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Every earthworm found in the north east region of the United States is an invasive
species. These invasive worms have been known to change many physical and chemical
properties of Northern hardwood forests including leaf litter depth, nutrient cycling and
seed bed productivity (Hale, 2007). In addition to these changes it was hypothesized that
some species, namely Lumbricus rubellus can alter pH in the surrounding soil. Three
treatments were devised comprising of ten pots each. A high worms treatment (HW)
consisting of eight worms, a low worms treatment (L W) consisting of four worms, and a
control treatment was designed to mimic the conditions found in a Northern Beech forest.
The invasive worm species L.rubellus significantly increased the pH of water
leached from both the HW and L W treatments. Also, the water leached from the control
treatments became significantly more acidic. L. rubellus did not significantly change the
soil pH in either the HW or LW treatments. However, the mineral layer of the .control
treatments became significantly more acidic while the pH of both the HW and L W
treatments remained constant. Thus, L.rubellus does affect the pH of its surroundings,
both in the soil and water leached from the system. Observations were made that
L.rubellus may increase erosion and mixing of the forest floor as the soil of both the HW
and L W treatments were considerably less stratified at the end of the experiment.
Description
v, 24 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder.