The influence of earthworms on soil fertility. II. Consumption of soil and organic matter by the earthworm Allolobophora caliginosa (Savigny)

Abstract

When a population of the common peregrine lumbricid Allolobophora caliginosa (Sar.) was maintained in a moist loam at l5°C the worms consumed 200–300 mg dry weight of earth per gram body weight per day. The ingested earth moved through the gut in about 20 hr. When given a choice between various foods the worms consumed 10 mg dry weight of dung per gram body weight per day, together with smaller amounts of leaf litter. The worms gained weight more rapidly when fed with dung than when fed with partly decayed leaves or roots of herbage plants. Estimates are made of the rates at which soil and dung are likely to be consumed in the field.