Journal article

Publication year: 1988

Pages: 387-398

Journal: Pedobiologia: Journal of Soil Ecology

Volume number: 32

Issue number: 5-6

ISSN: 0031-4056

eISSN: 1873-1511

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-4056(23)00257-3

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 
The effect of M. glandulosus on the process of litter decomposition was studied using the rate of C-mineralization in the organic layer of limed and non-limed areas of a beech forest on moder soil. M. glandulosus promoted the C-mineralization in the F/H-layer of both areas. In the substrate taken from the unlimed area, the effect of M. glandulosus on C-mineralization decreased with increasing density of the enchytraeids. In contrast, the acceleration in organic matter decay rates on the ameliorated area increased with increasing density of M. glandulosus. Evidently, the effect of M. glandulosus on the litter decomposition depends upon both feeding behaviour of the enchytraeids and growth conditions of the microflora. The effect of M. glandulosus on the initial stage of leaf litter decomposition was tested using non-labile residues of 14C-labelled beech leaves. At a low density, M. glandulosus increased the 14C-release by up to 33%. For a period of time, the promotion of C-mineralization was reversed with increasing population density of M. glandulosus. However, in the long run M. glandulosus stimulated the mineralization of freshly fallen leaf-litter. It could be demonstrated that there is an optimal range of temperature for the positive effect of M. glandulosus on the decomposition of this C-source near 10.degree. C. Liming leads to a more sensitive equilibrium between the positive and negative influences of M. glandulosus on the mineralization capacity of the microflora than in the unlimed substrate during the initial period of litter decomposition. In the substrate taken from the OL-layer of the unlimed area M. glandulosus inhibited the decomposition of the cell walls of soil fungi. Species such as M. glandulosus may, therefore, be of great importance for the nutrient cycling in moder soils by increasing the C-mineralization on the whole and by lowering the rate of nutrient release from certain labile components of soil organic matter. It was concluded that M. glandulosus can, on the one hand, promote decomposition, e.g. through an increase in the inoculation capacity of the microflora and through alteration of the physico-chemical conditions of the substrate. On the other hand, M. glandulosus is capable of decreasing mineralization rate, for example by reducing the number of microbial inhabitants in leaf-litter and probably by occluding the products synthesized by soil fungi in their faeces.

Harvard Citation style: Wolters, V. (1988) Effects of Mesenchytraeus glandulosus (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae) on decomposition processes, Pedobiologia: Journal of Soil Ecology, 32(5-6), pp. 387-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-4056(23)00257-3

APA Citation style: Wolters, V. (1988). Effects of Mesenchytraeus glandulosus (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae) on decomposition processes. Pedobiologia: Journal of Soil Ecology. 32(5-6), 387-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-4056(23)00257-3