In general, farming systems that provide the greatest organic matter returns to the soil support the highest earthworm populations and typically the application of organic materials will increase earthworm numbers because of an abundance of food. There has been limited work on the effects of digestate applications on earthworm populations with most focus on the short-term effects of digestate from manure or crop-based feedstocks, not from food wastes. To address this gap in current knowledge, the objective of this study was to assess the impact of repeated food-based digestate applications on earthworm populations/biomass in both the short term (c. 6 months after digestate application) and longer term (2 years later) in comparison with other commonly used inputs (manufactured nitrogen-N fertilizer, compost and livestock manures). This multi-site field experiment has shown that the application of food-based digestate at application rates above current good practice can have a short-term, negative impact on earthworm numbers under certain conditions. Six months after the final digestate addition, earthworm numbers were 32%–60% lower than following the additions of other organic materials at four of the seven sites investigated. A combination of high ammonium/low organic matter loadings and soil compaction most likely explained the observed effects.

中文翻译：

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田间应用厌氧消化食物对蚯蚓种群的影响

一般来说，为土壤提供最大有机质回报的耕作系统支持最高的蚯蚓种群，并且通常由于食物丰富，有机材料的应用会增加蚯蚓的数量。关于消化液应用对蚯蚓种群的影响的工作有限，主要集中在粪便或基于作物的原料中的消化液的短期影响，而不是来自食物垃圾的消化液。为了解决当前知识中的这一差距，本研究的目的是评估在短期内重复使用基于食物的消化物对蚯蚓种群/生物量的影响（c.施肥后 6 个月）和长期（2 年后）与其他常用投入物（制造的氮肥、堆肥和牲畜粪便）相比。这项多地点实地试验表明，在某些条件下，以高于当前良好实践的施用率施用基于食物的消化物会对蚯蚓数量产生短期的负面影响。添加最终消化物六个月后，在七个调查地点中的四个地点，蚯蚓数量比添加其他有机材料后低 32%–60%。高铵/低有机质负荷和土壤压实的组合最有可能解释观察到的影响。