Abstract
Earthworms enhance plant growth but the precise mechanism by which this occurs is not known. An understanding of the mechanism could potentially support changes in agricultural management reducing fertiliser usage and therefore costs and the carbon footprint of agriculture. We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions. The different wheat strains all responded in a similar fashion. Plant biomass was greater in the presence of earthworms and under regular watering. The presence of earthworms reduced the impact of drought on plant biomass and also slowed down the rate of drying of the droughted soils. Plant nutrient content (N, P, Si) showed no consistent pattern with treatments but plant total N, P and Si mirrored plant biomass and decreased in the order earthworm-present watered > earthworm-present droughted > earthworm-absent watered > earthworm-absent droughted. Nutrient availability in the soil, as assessed by chemical extractions showed no consistent pattern with treatments. Differential gene expression of plants was greater between watering treatments than between earthworm treatments. Genes that were differentially expressed between the earthworm treatments predominantly related to plant defences, abiotic stress and control of plant growth though a couple were linked to both nitrogen cycling and stress responses. The soil microbiome of the earthworm-present treatments was more associated with nutrient-rich environments, the promotion of plant growth and the suppression of plant pathogens whilst that of the earthworm-absent treatments included a variety of plant pathogens. Our data are consistent with enhanced plant growth being due to changes in the microbiome brought about by earthworm processing of the soil rather than changes in nutrient availability directly due to earthworm activity.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 15
Claim · model-written summary
The different wheat strains responded similarly to the treatments.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume2 - Material
- different wheat strainse1
- Outcome
- responded in a similar fashione1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“The different wheat strains all responded in a similar fashion”
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
Claim · model-written summary
Earthworm presence increased plant biomass compared to earthworm absence.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Treatment
- presence of earthwormse3
- Interactor
- earthwormCrassiclitellatae3other
- Outcome
- Plant biomasse3
- Direction
- greatere3
- Comparator
- absence of earthwormse2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e3“Plant biomass was greater in the presence of earthworms and under regular watering”
Claim · model-written summary
Regular watering increased plant biomass compared to droughted conditions.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Treatment
- regular wateringe3
- Outcome
- Plant biomasse3
- Direction
- greatere3
- Comparator
- droughted conditionse2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e3“Plant biomass was greater in the presence of earthworms and under regular watering”
Claim · model-written summary
Earthworm presence reduced the impact of drought on plant biomass.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Treatment
- presence of earthwormse4
- Interactor
- earthwormCrassiclitellatae4other
- Outcome
- impact of drought on plant biomasse4
- Direction
- reducede4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e4“The presence of earthworms reduced the impact of drought on plant biomass and also slowed down the rate of drying of the droughted soils”
Claim · model-written summary
Earthworm presence slowed the rate of drying of droughted soils.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Treatment
- presence of earthwormse4
- Interactor
- earthwormCrassiclitellatae4other
- Outcome
- rate of drying of the droughted soilse4
- Direction
- slowed downe4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e4“The presence of earthworms reduced the impact of drought on plant biomass and also slowed down the rate of drying of the droughted soils”
Claim · model-written summary
Plant nutrient content (N, P, Si) showed no consistent pattern with treatments.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Outcome
- Plant nutrient content (N, P, Si)e5
- Qualifier
- no consistent pattern with treatmentse5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e5“Plant nutrient content (N, P, Si) showed no consistent pattern with treatments”
Claim · model-written summary
Plant total N, P and Si decreased in the order earthworm-present watered > earthworm-present droughted > earthworm-absent watered > earthworm-absent droughted.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Interactor
- earthwormCrassiclitellatae6other
- Outcome
- plant total N, P and Sie6
- Direction
- decreasede6
- Qualifier
- in the order earthworm-present watered > earthworm-present droughted > earthworm-absent watered > earthworm-absent droughtede6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e6“Plant total N, P and Si mirrored plant biomass and decreased in the order earthworm-present watered > earthworm-present droughted > earthworm-absent watered > earthworm-absent droughted”
Claim · model-written summary
Plant total N, P and Si mirrored plant biomass.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Outcome
- plant total N, P and Sie6
- Comparator
- plant biomasse6
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e6“Plant total N, P and Si mirrored plant biomass and decreased in the order earthworm-present watered > earthworm-present droughted > earthworm-absent watered > earthworm-absent droughted”
Claim · model-written summary
Nutrient availability in the soil showed no consistent pattern with treatments.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Outcome
- Nutrient availability in the soile7
- Qualifier
- no consistent pattern with treatmentse7
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e7“Nutrient availability in the soil, as assessed by chemical extractions showed no consistent pattern with treatments”
Claim · model-written summary
Differential gene expression of wheat was greater between watering treatments than between earthworm treatments.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Treatment
- watering treatmentse3
- Outcome
- Differential gene expression of plantse3
- Direction
- greatere3
- Comparator
- earthworm treatmentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e3“Differential gene expression of plants was greater between watering treatments than between earthworm treatments”
Claim · model-written summary
Genes differentially expressed between earthworm treatments related predominantly to plant defences, abiotic stress and control of plant growth.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Treatment
- earthworm treatmentse3
- Outcome
- plant defences, abiotic stress and control of plant growthe3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e3“Genes that were differentially expressed between the earthworm treatments predominantly related to plant defences, abiotic stress and control of plant growth though a couple were linked to both nitrogen cycling and stress responses”
Claim · model-written summary
A couple of the genes differentially expressed between earthworm treatments were linked to both nitrogen cycling and stress responses.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Outcome
- nitrogen cycling and stress responsese3
- Qualifier
- a couple were linked to bothe3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e3“Genes that were differentially expressed between the earthworm treatments predominantly related to plant defences, abiotic stress and control of plant growth though a couple were linked to both nitrogen cycling and stress responses”
Claim · model-written summary
The soil microbiome of earthworm-present treatments was more associated with nutrient-rich environments, plant growth promotion and suppression of plant pathogens.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Treatment
- earthworm-present treatmentse3
- Interactor
- plant pathogense3pathogen
- Outcome
- soil microbiomee3
- Qualifier
- more associated with nutrient-rich environments, the promotion of plant growth and the suppression of plant pathogense3
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e3“The soil microbiome of the earthworm-present treatments was more associated with nutrient-rich environments, the promotion of plant growth and the suppression of plant pathogens whilst that of the earthworm-absent treatments included a variety of plant pathogens”
Claim · model-written summary
The soil microbiome of earthworm-absent treatments included a variety of plant pathogens.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Treatment
- earthworm-absent treatmentse3
- Interactor
- plant pathogense3pathogen
- Outcome
- soil microbiomee3
- Qualifier
- included a variety of plant pathogense3
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e3“The soil microbiome of the earthworm-present treatments was more associated with nutrient-rich environments, the promotion of plant growth and the suppression of plant pathogens whilst that of the earthworm-absent treatments included a variety of plant pathogens”
Claim · model-written summary
Enhanced wheat growth is due to changes in the soil microbiome caused by earthworm processing of the soil rather than changes in nutrient availability.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume2
- Interactor
- earthwormCrassiclitellatae3other
- Outcome
- enhanced plant growthe3
- Qualifier
- changes in the microbiomee3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e2“We conducted a factorial experiment in which 5 strains of wheat were grown in the presence and absence of earthworms under regular watering and droughted conditions”
e3“Our data are consistent with enhanced plant growth being due to changes in the microbiome brought about by earthworm processing of the soil rather than changes in nutrient availability directly due to earthworm activity”
The same questions in other papers
irrigation · growth · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
176 papers in the same direction as this paper · 61 in the opposite direction · 4 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- negative
- no effect
238 papers more in this group
See all 242 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.