Effects of long-term tea (Camellia sinensis) cultivation on the earthworm populations in northern Iran

Year 2022, , 234 - 240, 01.07.2022

Ehsan Kahneh Ahmad Shirinfekr Samar Ramzi Korosh Majd Salimi

https://doi.org/10.18393/ejss.1070182

Cited By: 1

Abstract

The earthworms’ abundance is usually one of the main indicators of healthy and productive soils. However, agricultural management practices affect the earthworm population and activities. Although there is a lot of information that shows the relation between land use/land cover change and earthworms activity, very little is known about these effects under tea cultivation. Thus the current study was done to determine the effects of long-term tea cultivation on the earthworm’s population and abundance in the tea plantations of Iran to distinguish effects of these practices on soil properties concerning earthworms. Hence, 58 locations of tea cultivations were randomly selected in Guilan and Mazandaran province. Earthworm were sampled by manually excavating and sorting four 30×30 cm pits by 30 cm deep in each location. Earthworms were enumerated in the field and taken to the lab for identification. Once identified, the earthworms will dry in the oven at 60oC for 48h and the dry weight registers. Some physicochemical properties of the mineral soils were determined in the laboratory. The finding indicated that the earthworms were only observed in the two from 58 locations: Bazkiagorab (Lahijan) and Shekarposhteh (Tonekabon). Three species as Perelia kaznakovi, Aporrectodea trapezoides, and Dendrobaena veneta were recorded from Bazkiagorab but only P. kaznakovi was identified in Shekarposhteh. The total population of all identified earthworms was 22 and 3 m-2 in the Bazkiagorab and Shekarposhteh, respectively. Results of the physicochemical analysis showed that 35% and 51% of the soils had a pH less than4.5 and organic carbon less than2%, respectively. Available phosphorus and potassium in 80% and 65% of the soils were less than 25 and 150 mg/kg, respectively. It can be concluded that monoculture and long-term tea cultivations had a negative effect on the earthworm population, in addition, it has strongly acidified the soil. It is recommended that native nitrogen-fixing trees mixed planted with tea, and more attention should be paid to nutrient Best Management Practices in tea plantations.

Keywords

Iran, acid soil, Perelia kaznakovi, Aporrectodea trapezoides, Dendrobaena veneta.

References

• Boström, U., Lofs-Holmin, A., 1986. Growth of earthworms (Allolobophora caliginosa) fed shoots and roots of barley, meadow fescue and lucerne studies in relation to particle size, protein, crude fiber content and toxicity. Pedobiologia 29(1): 1-12.
• Chaudhuri, P.S., Nath, S., 2011. Community structure of earthworms under rubber plantations and mixed forests in Tripura, India. Journal of Environmental Biology 32(5): 537-541.
• Chien, H.H., Tokuda, M., Van Minh, D., Kang, Y., Iwasaki, K., Tanaka, S., 2019. Soil physicochemical properties in a high-quality tea production area of Thai Nguyen province in northern region, Vietnam. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 65(1): 73-81.
• Curry, J.P., 1998. Factors affecting earthworm abundance in soils. In: Earthworm ecology. Edwards, C.A., (Ed.). St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA. pp 37–64.
• Edwards, C.A., Bohlen, P.J., 1996. Biology and ecology of earthworms (Vol. 3). Springer Science & Business Media. 426 p.
• Edwards, C.A., Lofty, J.R., 1972. Biology of Earthworms. 1972. London. UK: Chapman and Hall. 283 p.
• Graff, O., Satchell, J.E. 1967. Progress in Soil Biology: Proceedings of the Colloquium on Dynamics of Soil Communities. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig; North-Holland Publ. Comp. Amsterdam,
• Harbowy, M.E., Balentine, D.A., Davies, A.P., Cai, Y., 1997. Tea chemistry. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 16(5): 415-480.
• ITO, 2018. Iranian Tea Organization. Available at [Access date: 01.05.2021]: https://www.irantea.org/fa/default.aspx
• Isobe, K., Aizawa, E., Iguchi, Y., Ishii, R., 2007. Distribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in upland field soil of Japan 1. Relationship between spore density and the soil environmental factor. Plant Production Science 10(1): 122-128.
• Jamatia, S.K.S., Chaudhuri, P.S., 2017a. Earthworm community structure under tea plantation (Camellia sinensis) of Tripura (India). Tropical Ecology 58(1): 105-113.
• Jamatia, S.K.S., Chaudhuri, P.S., 2017b. Species diversity and community characteristics of earthworms in managed and degraded tea plantations of Tripura. Journal of Environmental Biology 38(6):1349-1356.
• Kahneh, E., Alinaghipour, B., Zohdqodsi, M.J., 2018. Investigating the relationship between climate change and tea production in Gilan province. Herbal Teas and Teas 1 (2): 1-12.
• Karak, T., Bora, K., Paul, R.K., Das, S., Khare, P., Dutta, A.K., Boruah, R.K., 2017. Paradigm shift of contamination risk of six heavy metals in tea (Camellia sinensis L.) growing soil: A new approach influenced by inorganic and organic amendments. Journal of Hazardous Materials 338: 250-264.
• Karak, T., Paul, R.K., Boruah, R.K., Sonar, I., Bordoloi, B., Dutta, A.K., Borkotoky, B., 2015. Major soil chemical properties of the major tea-growing areas in India. Pedosphere 25(2): 316-328.
• Latif, R., Ezzatpanah, S., Malek, M. and Parsa, H., 2009. Earthworms of the Central Elburz Mountains, Iran. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics 5(2): 1 - 15.
• Luthfiyah, H., 2014. Keanekaragaman dan kepadatan cacing tanah di Perkebunan Teh PTPN XII Bantaran Blitar. Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim. [in Indonesian]. Available at [Access date: 01.05.2021]: http://etheses.uin-malang.ac.id/467/1/10620050%20Pendahuluan.pdf
• Motsara, M.R., Roy, R.N., 2008. Guide to laboratory establishment for plant nutrient analysis. No. 19. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy. 219 p. Available at [Access date: 01.05.2021]: https://www.fao.org/3/i0131e/i0131e.pdf
• Najar, I.A., Khan, A.B., 2014, December. Factors affecting distribution of earthworms in Kashmir Valley: a multivariate statistical approach. Proceedings of the Zoological Society 67: 126-135.
• Pulleman, M., 2002. Interactions between soil organic matter dynamics and soil structure as affected by farm management. PhD Thesis, Wageningen University, The Netherland. 146 p. Available at [Access date: 01.05.2021]: https://edepot.wur.nl/2013
• Radaei, M., Izadi, M., 2016. Response of earthworm’s biomass and soil properties in different afforested type areas in the North Iran. Eurasian Journal of Soil Science 5(1): 47-52.
• Reynolds, J.W., Mısırlıoğlu, İ.M., 2018. Preliminary Key to Turkish Megadriles (Annelida, Clitellata, Oligochaeta), based on external characters, insofar as possible. Megadrilogica 23(11): 139-155.
• Ruan, J., Ma, L., Shi, Y., 2013. Potassium management in tea plantations: its uptake by field plants, status in soils, and efficacy on yields and quality of teas in China. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 176(3): 450-459.
• Ruan, J., Wu, X., Härdter, R., 1999. Effects of potassium and magnesium nutrition on the quality components of different types of tea. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 79(1):47-52.
• Sinha, R. K., Herat, S., Valani, D., Chauhan, K. 2010. Earthworms–the environmental engineers: review of vermiculture technologies for environmental management and resource development. International Journal of Global Environmental Issues 10(3-4): 265-292.
• Shirinfekr, A., 2018. Applying of soil physico-chemical properties zoning for fertilizer recommendation of tea (No.53531). Final report of the research project. Tea Research Center, HSRI, AREEO, Iran.
• SPSS, 2018. IBM Corp. Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.
• Thielemann, U., 1986. Glassöhrchenmethode zur Lebendbestimmung von Regenswürmern. Pedobiologia 29(5): 341-343.
• Zhu, X., Lian, B., Yang, X., Liu, C., Zhu, L., 2013. Biotransformation of earthworm activity on potassium-bearing mineral powder. Journal of Earth Science 24(1): 65-74.