Earthworms and plants can decrease soil greenhouse gas emissions by modulating soil moisture fluctuations and soil macroporosity in a mesocosm experiment

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 2; p. e0289859
• Main Authors: Ganault, Pierre, Nahmani, Johanne, Capowiez, Yvan, Fromin, Nathalie, Shihan, Ammar, Bertrand, Isabelle, Buatois, Bruno, Milcu, Alexandru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 15.02.2024; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agricultural sciences; Air pollution; Air quality management; Animals; Biodiversity and Ecology; Biology and Life Sciences; Carbon Dioxide - analysis; Closed ecological systems; Earth Sciences; Earthworms; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Environmental aspects; Environmental Sciences; Greenhouse gases; Greenhouse Gases - analysis; Influence; Life Sciences; Mesocosms; Methane - analysis; Nitrous Oxide - analysis; Oligochaeta; Physical Sciences; Research and Analysis Methods; Soil; Soil moisture; Soil study; Soils; Water; France; carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, soil fauna, drying-rewetting cycles, macroporosity, X-ray 21 tomography, CO2, N2O
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289859

Earthworms can stimulate microbial activity and hence greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils. However, the extent of this effect in the presence of plants and soil moisture fluctuations, which are influenced by earthworm burrowing activity, remains uncertain. Here, we report the effects of earthworms (without, anecic, endogeic, both) and plants (with, without) on GHG (CO 2 , N 2 O) emissions in a 3-month greenhouse mesocosm experiment simulating a simplified agricultural context. The mesocosms allowed for water drainage at the bottom to account for the earthworm engineering effect on water flow during two drying-wetting cycles. N 2 O cumulative emissions were 34.6% and 44.8% lower when both earthworm species and only endogeic species were present, respectively, and 19.8% lower in the presence of plants. The presence of the endogeic species alone or in combination with the anecic species slightly reduced CO 2 emissions by 5.9% and 11.4%, respectively, and the presence of plants increased emissions by 6%. Earthworms, plants and soil water content interactively affected weekly N 2 O emissions, an effect controlled by increased soil dryness due to drainage via earthworm burrows and mesocosm evapotranspiration. Soil macroporosity (measured by X-ray tomography) was affected by earthworm species-specific burrowing activity. Both GHG emissions decreased with topsoil macropore volume, presumably due to reduced moisture and microbial activity. N 2 O emissions decreased with macropore volume in the deepest layer, likely due to the presence of fewer anaerobic microsites. Our results indicate that, under experimental conditions allowing for plant and earthworm engineering effects on soil moisture, earthworms do not increase GHG emissions, and endogeic earthworms may even reduce N 2 O emissions.