[Gasification] Forest Duff & Earthworms - Off Topic ?

[Anand Karve]

Dear Mark,
I am not an earthworm specialist. I started thinking about earthworms
only when it was reported that the casts of earthworms had an
unusually high iron content. It was then I realised that the guts of
earthworms acted as miniature biogas plants. I would therefore assume
that the microbes in the guts of earthworms converted nitrates into
ammonia, sulphates into H2S, and cellulose (i.e. carbohydrates) into
methane. There might  be other chemicals formed by reducing oxidised
minerals i (e.g. silicates) nto their reduced forms, but I am ignorant
of them.
Yours
A.D.Karve

On Tue, Sep 30, 2014 at 11:23 PM, Mark Elliott Ludlow <mark at ludlow.com> wrote:
> 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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-- 
***
Dr. A.D. Karve
Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)