The Earthworm Eisenia fetida Can Help Desalinate a Coastal Saline Soil in Tianjin, North China

PLoS One. 2015 Dec 23;10(12):e0144709. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144709. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

A laboratory microcosm experiment was conducted to determine whether the earthworm Eisenia fetida could survive in a saline soil from a field site in North China, and an experiment using response surface methodology was conducted at that field site to quantify the effects of E. fetida and green waste compost (GWC) on the salt content of the soil. The microcosm results showed that E. fetida survived in GWC-amended saline soil and increased the contents of humic acid, available N, and available P in the GWC-amended soil. The data from the field experiment were described by the following second-order model: [Formula in text], where y is the decrease in soil salinity (g of salt per kg of dry soil) relative to the untreated control, x1 is the number of E. fetida added per m2, and x2 is the quantity of GWC added in kg per m2. The model predicted that the total salt content of the saline soil would decrease by > 2 g kg(-1) (p<0.05) when 29-90 individuals m-2 of E. fetida and 6.1-15.0 kg m(-2) of GWC were applied. We conclude that the use of E. fetida for soil desalination is promising and warrants additional investigation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biodegradation, Environmental*
  • China
  • Environmental Restoration and Remediation*
  • Oligochaeta / growth & development*
  • Oligochaeta / metabolism
  • Salinity*
  • Sodium Chloride / metabolism*
  • Soil Pollutants*

Substances

  • Soil Pollutants
  • Sodium Chloride

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Special Fund for Forest Scientific Research in the Public Welfare "Development and Application of Technology of Converting Forestry Waste into Growing Media" (201504205), and the Graduate Training and Development Program of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education "Application of Earthworms and Green Waste Compost in Saline Soil Amelioration of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coastal Area" (BLCXY201604). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Shandong ShengWei Gardening Technology Co., Ltd. and Tianjin JiaLiMing Biological Technology Co., Ltd. provided support in the form of salaries for authors [YF] [LJ], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.