Conversion of forests to cultivated farms through slash-and-burn or chop-and-char practices often results in rapid loss of soil organic matter (SOM) or conversion of inherent SOM into pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM). However, there is little knowledge about the short-term changes in soil macrofauna that may occur when large amount of biochar are added to the soil. A thirty-day microcosm study was conducted to assess effects of biochar derived from two trees, Croton megalocarpus Hutch. and Zanthoxylum gilletii (De Wild.) P.G.Waterman, on the activity of a geophagous earthworm, Pontoscolex corethrurus. A portion of the biochar was leached with either acetone or 2 M HCl, to remove easily mineralizable organic matter and ash contents, respectively. Each of the biochar types was mixed with soil at a rate equivalent to 5, 10 and 25 Mg ha⁻¹. Casts were collected after 30 days and used as a measure of earthworms’ activity. Casts dry weight was affected more by amount than the type of biochar. The highest cast weight (188.1 g and 176.5 g) was recorded in microcosm that received 5 Mg ha⁻¹ of C. megalocarpus and Z. gilletii biochar, respectively. Notably, the weight decreased with increasing biochar additions. Cast weight decreased by 4% in microcosms that received 10 Mg of C. megalocarpus biochar ha⁻¹ and by 15% in microcosms that received the same biochar type at a rate of 25 Mg ha⁻¹. Similarly, there was a 6% decline in cast weight in microcosms that received 10 Mg of Z. gilletii biochar ha⁻¹ and an 8% decline in microcosms amended with 25 Mg ha⁻¹ of the same biochar type. Easily mineralizable organic matter or nutrients were not responsible for the observed differences in cast production since leaching with acetone or HCl did not change the effects. The C and N content in casts and bulk soil were not significantly different, an indication that earthworms did not seek out biochar, but rather indiscriminately utilised the soil rich in biochar.

通过刀耕火种或砍伐-烧炭的方式将森林转变为耕地通常会导致土壤有机质（SOM）迅速流失或将固有的SOM转化为热解有机质（PyOM）。但是，对于将大量生物炭添加到土壤中后可能发生的土壤大型动物的短期变化知之甚少。进行了为期30天的微观研究，以评估源自两棵巴豆（Croton megalocarpus Hutch）的生物炭的作用。和Zanthoxylum gilletii（De Wild。）PGWaterman，讨论了食地earthPontoscolex corethrurus的活动。用丙酮或2 M HCl浸出一部分生物炭，分别去除易矿化的有机物和灰分。将每种生物炭类型以等于5、10和25 Mg ha ^-1的速率与土壤混合。30天后收集铸模，并用作activity活动的量度。铸型干重受数量的影响大于生物炭的类型。最高铸造重量（188.1克和176.5克）被记录在该接受5mg公顷缩影^-1的C. megalocarpus和Z. gilletii分别生物炭。值得注意的是，重量随着生物炭添加量的增加而降低。在接受10 Mg巨型角lo生物炭的缩影中，铸件重量减少了4％^-1，在以25 Mg ha ^-1的速率接受相同生物炭类型的微观世界中降低15％。同样，接受10 Mg吉列茨氏菌生物炭ha ^-1的微观世界的铸件重量下降了6％，而用相同生物炭类型的25 Mg ha ^-1修正的微观世界的铸件重量下降了8％。易于矿化的有机物或养分对铸件产量的差异不负责任，因为用丙酮或HCl浸出不会改变效果。铸型和块状土壤中的碳和氮含量没有显着差异，这表明worm不是寻找生物炭，而是不加选择地利用了富含生物炭的土壤。