Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap.
Responsible organisation
2021 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

Pores provide important hotspots for chemical and biological processes in soils. Earthworm burrows affect the macropore structure and their actions may create new preferential pathways for water and gas flow within soils. This, in turn, indirectly affect plants, nutrient cycling, hydraulic conductivity, gas exchange, and soil organisms. While the effects of invasive earthworms on soil properties has been well-documented in temperate and boreal ecosystems, we know little how these organism may affect tundra soils. In this study, I assessed how the three-dimensional network of soil-macropores are affected by earthworm species (Aporrectodea sp. and Lumbricus sp). I hypothesized: i) that earthworms increase the frequency of macropores with a likely biological origin (biopores); ii) effects of biopores are dependent on tundra vegetation type (meadow or heath); and iii) the macropore network properties are altered by earthworms.  The hypotheses were tested using a common garden experiment with 48 mesocosms. The pore structure of each mesocosm was analyzed using X-ray CT tomography. I found that biopores increased in the tundra from on 0.05 ±0.01 % (mean ± standard deviation) in the control to about 0.59 ± 0.07 % in the earthworm treatments. However, in contrast to my second hypothesis, I found no vegetation dependent effect. Interestingly, I found that earthworms decreased the complexity and directionality of macropores. My findings strongly indicate that burrowing can severely impact the pore properties of previously uninhabited subarctic soils.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021. , p. 20
Keywords [en]
Biopores, macropores, geoengineering earthworms, X-ray tomography
National Category
Soil Science Ecology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-8814OAI: oai:DiVA.org:polar-8814DiVA, id: diva2:1625685
Subject / course
Examensarbete i Naturgeografi för kandidatexamen
Educational program
Bachelor of Science in Biology and Earthscience
Available from: 2022-01-09 Created: 2022-01-09 Last updated: 2022-01-09Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(689 kB)56 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 689 kBChecksum SHA-512
c32ad4413a37dbf2e1713b5ebb1052ecae7a4e9c8cb1cddc5c4e3c9b614cfcff8337f896681464eec8956568c4fab294f211f587346ccdd6876994126303004c
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Soil ScienceEcology

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 56 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 327 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf