Chemical composition of earthworm casts in different habitats of Poland

Nowak, Ewa

doi:ISSN 0420-9036

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Chemical composition of earthworm casts in different habitats of Poland Nowak, Ewa

Object structure

Chemical composition of earthworm casts in different habitats of Poland

Chemical composition of earthworm casts

Nowak, Ewa

Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Ekologii

Oficyna Wydawnicza Instytutu Ekologii PAN

Dziekanów Leśny

1995-1996

Strony 205-215 : ilustracje ; 24 cm ; Bibliografia na stronie 215 ; Streszczenie w języku polskim

Czasopismo/Artykuł

earthworms ; casts ; chemical composition

Earthworms deposited on soil surface from 2.7 to 19.3 kg dry mass casts per m2 in different habitats of the Masurian Lakeland in a wet year of 1984. These casts were characterized by pH about 6.4 and C/N close to 10.3. They were markedly enriched with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium forms readily available to plants, and with exchangeable cations. The enrichment of casts with calcium occurred in habitats with soil pH lower than 6, enrichment with phosphorus was high in habitats with low contents of this nutrient (0.8-1.6 mg P2O5 x 100-1 g soil) and lower in others. Rich in nutrients were casts from areas where dung was the source of food for earthworms.

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