[Gasification] Forest Duff & Earthworms - Off Topic ?

[Mark Elliott Ludlow]

Dr. Karve,

Do you have a list of those positive effects attributable to earth worms,
particularly those in the biochemical transformational mode?

Thanks, kindly,

Best, Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Gasification [mailto:gasification-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On
Behalf Of Anand Karve
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2014 9:58 PM
To: Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Forest Duff & Earthworms - Off Topic ?

Dear Jeff,
one of the points that is missed in most discussions on earthworms is the
fact that earthworms are miniature biogas plants. Ms Hemangi Jambhekar, a
lady selling earthworm compost as a business, told me that earthworm casts
had unusually high iron content. The soil in our area is rich in iron, but
the iron, being Fe2O3(ferric oxide) is not soluble in water and therefore
soil analysis shows our soils to be poor in iron. When this soil passes
through the gut of an earthworm, the anaerobic micro-organisms in the gut
take a part of the oxygen from the Fe2O3  for their own metabolism and
convert the Fe2O3 into FeO(ferrous oxide), which is water soluble.
Similarly, the casts of worms contain many other organic and inorganic
components of the soil in their reduced form. The reduced compounds serve
the soil microbes as food, because they can oxidise them to obtain energy
for their own metabolism. This causes an increase in the population density
of soil microbes. It is a universally accepted fact that the population
density of soil microbes is positively correlated to soil fertility.
Yours
A.D.Karve

On Sun, Sep 28, 2014 at 10:29 PM, Jeff Davis <jeffdavis0124 at gmail.com>
wrote:
> Kind of off topic:
>
>
> Aren't earthworms good for soil and gardens?
>
> It depends. Earthworms create a soil of a certain consistency. For 
> soils that are compacted due to heavy use by agriculture and 
> urbanization, for example, earthworm tunnels can create "macro-pores" 
> to aid the movement of water through the soil. They also help 
> incorporate organic matter into the mineral soil to make more 
> nutrients available to plants. However, in agricultural settings 
> earthworms can also have harmful effects. For instance, their castings 
> (worm excrement) can increase erosion along irrigation ditches. In the 
> urban setting, earthworm burrows can cause lumpy lawns.
>
> Relative to simplified ecosystems such as agricultural and 
> urban/suburban soils, earthworm-free hardwood forests in Minnesota 
> have a naturally loose soil with a thick duff layer. Most of our 
> native hardwood forest tree seedlings, wildflowers, and ferns grow 
> best in these conditions. However, when earthworms invade they 
> actually increase the compaction of hardwood forest soils. Compaction 
> decreases water infiltration. Less infiltration combined with the 
> removal of the duff and fallen tree leaves results in increased surface
runoff and erosion.
>
> <http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialanimals/earthworms/in
> dex.html>
>
>
>
> Jeff
>
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--
***
Dr. A.D. Karve
Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)

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