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Earthworms are environmental indicators of soil health. Earthworms feed on the decaying matter in the soil and analyzing the contents of their digestive tracts gives insight into the overall condition of the soil. The earthworm gut accumulates chemicals, including heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, zinc, and copper. The population size of ...
Lumbricus terrestris is a deep-burrowing anecic earthworm, [3] that is, it builds deep vertical burrows and surfaces to feed, as opposed to burrowing through the soil for its food as endogeic species.
Earthworms store their partners' sperm in spermathecae ("sperm stores") and then the clitellum produces a cocoon that collects ova from the ovaries and then sperm from the spermathecae. Fertilization and development of earthworm eggs takes place in the cocoon. Leeches' eggs are fertilized in the ovaries, and then transferred to the cocoon.
Burrowing is performed by forcing the front end of the worm into a crevice and widening the gap by body expansion. Large quantities of soil are swallowed in the process. This is mixed with mucus as it passes through the gut, being used to plaster the tunnel walls, forming a lining. Excess material is extruded on the ground surface, forming a ...
The drilosphere is the part of the soil influenced by earthworm secretions, burrowing and castings. [1] Therefore, it is the fraction of soil which has gone through the digestive tract of earthworms, [2] or the lining of an earthworm burrow. [3]
These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles (such as snakes), and species of burrowing mammals like gophers, moles and prairie dogs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics.
“The freeze-drying process uses lower temperatures than traditional drying methods, which helps the fruit retain a higher percentage of vitamins, antioxidants and polyphenols,” explains Jaclyn ...
The fossil indicates a 5 centimeter depth of bioturbation in muddy sediments by a burrowing worm. [67] This is consistent with food-seeking behavior, as there tended to be more food resources in the mud than the water column. [68] However, this hypothesis requires more precise geological dating to rule out an early Cambrian origin for this ...