Effectiveness of Lumbricidae extracting with an environmentally friendly method

Abstract

Lumbricidae, as representatives of edaphone, are used in ecological research. Over the years, various attempts to improve the ways of earthworm extraction have been made. One of the pro-environmental methods for extracting these animals from the soil is the method involving the application of electric current (octet). The aim of the study was to compare the efficiency of the earthworm extraction using the mixed method (manual segregation along with the use of 0.5% formalin solution) with the method applying the electroshocking. The species composition of earthworms extracted using both methods was the same (seven species of earthworms belonging to three ecomorphological groups were found). A lower number and biomass of earthworms were found in the permanent grassland and arable land with the help of octet than using the mixed method. Further research is needed to improve the existing methods for Lumbricidae extraction and to implement new ones that would be safe for the edaphon representatives.