Y. Tao^1,3, W. Gu¹, J. Chen^1,2, J. Tao¹, Y.J. Xu¹, H. Zhang¹

¹ State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China;

² Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management, Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China;

³ College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, P.R. China.

 

Abstract: The effects of land use practices on soil fauna, especially earthworms, are poorly known in coastal saline agricultural soils. Here we compare earthworm communities in six types of land use practice in the coastal region of China’s Bohai Bay, namely uncultivated saline soil, two orchard (pear and winter jujube) lands, man-made forests (chinese ash), vegetable land and cropped land (maize). In addition, we recorded selected physicochemical properties of the soil. Soil organic matter content and total N were significantly higher under pear orchard and vegetable land than under the other land use practices, and their lowest values were observed from uncultivated saline soil. Vegetable land and pear orchard land showed a significantly higher abundance of earthworms than the other land use practices, whereas no earthworm was found in uncultivated saline soil. The sites under individual practices supported one to three earthworm species. Aporrectodea trapezoides species was present under four types of land use practice, and the biomass of this species accounted for more than 60% of the community. Vegetable land and pear orchard land supported richer earthworm community than the other land use practices, dominated by Aporrectodea trapezoids and Drawida japonica. These preliminary results indicated that land use practices have substantial effects on the abundance and composition of earthworm communities in saline soils.

 

Keywords: soil fauna; community structure; biological environment; salt-affected agricultural soils