Earthworm Abundance Increased by Mob-Grazing Zero-Tilled Arable Land in South-East England
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Site Description
2.2. Field Treatments
- 1.
- zero tillage + grass-clover ley (ZT)
- 2.
- zero tillage + grass-clover ley + mob-grazing (ZTMG)
- 3.
- permanent grassland (PG)
2.3. Earthworm Sampling
2.4. Soil Analysis
2.5. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Cultivation Legacy
4.2. Crop Diversification: Grass-Clover Ley
4.3. Livestock and Mob-Grazing
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Treatment | |||
---|---|---|---|
Management | ZT | ZTMG | PG |
Permanent grass | - | - | ✓ |
Previous soil inversion | 11 years | 11 years | - |
Annual cropping | ✓ | ✓ | - |
3-year grass-clover ley | ✓ | ✓ | - |
Mob-grazing ley with cattle | - | ✓ | - |
Total Count | Anecic spp. | Endogeic spp. | Epigeic spp. | Juveniles | % Moisture | % SOM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kruskal-Wallis H | 9.89 | 0.412 | 5.774 | 11.026 | 8.902 | 13.025 | 7.884 |
df | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Asymp. Sig. | 0.007 ** | 0.814 | 0.056 | 0.004 ** | 0.012 * | 0.001 ** | 0.019 * |
Total Count | Epigeic spp. | Juveniles | % Moisture | % SOM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
zero tillage + mob grazing compared to zero tillage | |||||
Mann–Whitney U | 15.5 | 24.5 | 14.5 | 17 | 33 |
Wilcoxon W | 70.5 | 79.5 | 69.5 | 72 | 88 |
Z | −2.625 | −2.024 | −2.727 | −2.495 | −1.287 |
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.009 ** | 0.043 * | 0.006 ** | 0.013 * | 0.198 |
zero tillage compared to permanent grassland | |||||
Mann–Whitney U | 29.5 | 34.5 | 21 | 19 | 24.5 |
Wilcoxon W | 84.5 | 89.5 | 76 | 74 | 79.5 |
Z | −1.564 | −1.55 | −2.25 | −2.346 | −1.928 |
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.118 | 0.121 | 0.024 * | 0.019 * | 0.054 |
zero tillage + mob grazing compared to permanent grassland | |||||
Mann–Whitney U | 18 | 12.5 | 38 | 11 | 16.5 |
Wilcoxon W | 73 | 67.5 | 93 | 66 | 71.5 |
Z | −2.443 | −3.124 | −0.92 | −2.949 | −2.534 |
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.015 * | 0.002 ** | 0.358 | 0.003 ** | 0.011 * |
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Trickett, T.; Warner, D.J. Earthworm Abundance Increased by Mob-Grazing Zero-Tilled Arable Land in South-East England. Earth 2022, 3, 895-906. https://doi.org/10.3390/earth3030052
Trickett T, Warner DJ. Earthworm Abundance Increased by Mob-Grazing Zero-Tilled Arable Land in South-East England. Earth. 2022; 3(3):895-906. https://doi.org/10.3390/earth3030052
Chicago/Turabian StyleTrickett, Toni, and Douglas James Warner. 2022. "Earthworm Abundance Increased by Mob-Grazing Zero-Tilled Arable Land in South-East England" Earth 3, no. 3: 895-906. https://doi.org/10.3390/earth3030052