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Plastic Has Defeated the Worms
According to the research, it has been proved that earthworms now fail to grow in the soil that contains microplastics. Earthworms are the most common and successful soil engineers. These incredible organisms never fail to improve the health of soil properties. Even to enhance the fertility status of soil, farmers in most of the countries practice worm farming. Worm farming nowadays are quite a hot topic for farmers, agriculturists and even for the gardeners. Click here for the source.
Plastics that are used for creating bags or plastic bottles are highly dense. Scientists have found that earthworms have failed to thrive in the soils that are rich in high density polyethylene. According to that research, two soils were used and the species of worms was kept same. It was Aporrectodea rosea. One of the soils was treated with high density polyethylene while the other one was free from plastics.
The result showed that earthworms failed to grow in the plastic treated soils. These organisms lost 3% of their body weight only in 30 days. On the other hand, earthworms in soil treated with no plastics gained 5% body weight in 30 days.
The reason behind the weight loss is still unclear for the scientists but yet they have showed an acceptable reason. It was said that the plastics actually disturbed the digestive tract of the worms which limited the absorption of the nutrients. The lack of nutrients reduced their growth. In fact, the irritation in the digestive tract in this organisms limits their metabolism capacity.
So, It is clear that the soils rich in microplastic are too dangerous even for soil's organisms. These plastics reduce their activities and cause irritation in their system. This phenomena in turn restrict the development and growth of beneficial organisms. In this blog, I have discussed several posts on soil organisms and their beneficial effects on soil health. If microplastic actually inhibits the growth of these soil engineers, what will happen to the soil health? Probably we will lose our fertile land because of our own deeds. There are lot of agricultural land on Earth where the presence of microplastic is quite massive.
According to the research, it has been proved that earthworms now fail to grow in the soil that contains microplastics. Earthworms are the most common and successful soil engineers. These incredible organisms never fail to improve the health of soil properties. Even to enhance the fertility status of soil, farmers in most of the countries practice worm farming. Worm farming nowadays are quite a hot topic for farmers, agriculturists and even for the gardeners. Click here for the source.
Plastics that are used for creating bags or plastic bottles are highly dense. Scientists have found that earthworms have failed to thrive in the soils that are rich in high density polyethylene. According to that research, two soils were used and the species of worms was kept same. It was Aporrectodea rosea. One of the soils was treated with high density polyethylene while the other one was free from plastics.
The result showed that earthworms failed to grow in the plastic treated soils. These organisms lost 3% of their body weight only in 30 days. On the other hand, earthworms in soil treated with no plastics gained 5% body weight in 30 days.
The reason behind the weight loss is still unclear for the scientists but yet they have showed an acceptable reason. It was said that the plastics actually disturbed the digestive tract of the worms which limited the absorption of the nutrients. The lack of nutrients reduced their growth. In fact, the irritation in the digestive tract in this organisms limits their metabolism capacity.
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| Earthworms - environmentalmanagementandsystem.blogspot.com |
I imagine that the microplastics do tear up the worms' internal parts.
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