TY  - JOUR
A1  - van Schaik, Loes
A1  - Palm, Juliane
A1  - Klaus, Julian
A1  - Zehe, Erwin
A1  - Schroeder, Boris
T1  - Linking spatial earthworm distribution to macropore numbers and hydrological effectiveness
JF  - Ecohydrology : ecosystems, land and water process interactions, ecohydrogeomorphology
N2  - Due to its high spatial and temporal variability, preferential flow is difficult to measure and quantify. Earthworms create macropores that provide common pathways for preferential flow. Therefore in this article, we link earthworm abundance to macropore numbers and hydrological effectiveness, with the future aim to use species distribution models of earthworms for the spatial parameterization of preferential flow.
 Earthworms are generally categorized into three ecological types with varying burrowing behaviour, resulting in a different impact on soil hydrological processes. Therefore, we studied the relationships between the abundance of the earthworm ecological types and macropores of different size classes and in different soil depths. The abundance and biomass of earthworms were well correlated to different sizes of macropores in different soil depths. This is mainly the case for the larger, vertically oriented macropores (>6mm diameter), which are generally connected to the soil surface and hydrologically most effective. The correlation of total earthworm biomass and macropores ranges from 072 to 089 for different soil depths.
 Although there is quite some variation in infiltration patterns, infiltration from macropores into the matrix is profile-specific, as it varies strongly between profiles, but not within one profile. Macropore coating seems to have a larger effect on this macropore matrix interaction than the soil physical properties of the matrix. Although the amount of macropores and their effectiveness are clearly related to the earthworm distribution, the variation in infiltration from macropores to soil matrix should be further studied.
KW  - macropores
KW  - spatial parameterization
KW  - earthworm ecological types
KW  - infiltration patterns
KW  - preferential flow
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1358
SN  - 1936-0584
SN  - 1936-0592
VL  - 7
IS  - 2
SP  - 401
EP  - 408
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -