To achieve the EU’s targets for reducing energy production from fossil fuels, the use of energy crops, such as Miscanthus × giganteus, is increasing resulting in a corresponding increase in waste ash from incineration. The chemical properties of Miscanthus ash (e.g. phosphorus and potassium content) may allow this waste material (currently landfilled) to be used as a fertiliser, but no information exists on the effect of the ash on the biological properties of soil. The main aim of this study was to determine the potential impact of Miscanthus ash on earthworms by assessing the effect on survival, change in biomass, reproduction and avoidance behaviour of the geophagous, soil dwelling earthworm, Aporrectodea caliginosa. Tests utilised a range of Miscanthus ash doses from 0 to 50 t ha⁻¹ (0, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50). Results showed that Miscanthus ash had no significant impact on A. caliginosa survival, biomass and reproduction, but negative trends were observed for biomass from 2.5 t ha⁻¹ and for reproduction from 10 t ha⁻¹. In contrast, a significant avoidance response was observed in the 25 and 50 t ha⁻¹ treatment and according to ISO guideline 17512 there is a negative impact of the Miscanthus ash on soil habitat function at 25 t ha⁻¹ and above as more than 80% of earthworms were in the control soil. It is suggested that this negative effect on soil habitat function could be attributed to a range of factors including the presence of heavy metals in the ash and a change in substrate pH, texture and/or osmotic stress. Further laboratory-based studies conducted over extended time periods with a more refined range of ash doses and associated field-based studies are required to validate the results and determine a more precise assessment of the threshold ash value inducing a loss of soil habitat function.

为了实现欧盟减少化石燃料能源生产的目标，能源作物的使用，例如芒草（Miscanthus × giganteus），正在增加，导致焚烧产生的废物灰分相应增加。芒草灰的化学性质（例如磷和钾的含量）可以使这种废料（目前被填埋）用作肥料，但尚无灰烬对土壤生物学性质影响的信息。这项研究的主要目的是通过评估对生存，在geophagous，土栖龙，生物质，繁殖和回避行为变化的影响，以确定芒草火山灰对蚯蚓的潜在影响Aporrectodea caliginosa。测试使用了0到50 t ha ^-1（0、1、2.5、5、10、25、50）的芒草灰烬剂量。结果表明，芒草灰对加州猕猴桃的存活，生物量和繁殖没有显着影响，但2.5 t ha ^-1的生物量和10 t ha ^-1的繁殖均呈现负趋势。相比之下，在25和50 t ha ^-1处理中观察到了显着的回避响应，并且根据ISO准则17512，芒草灰对25 t ha ^-1的土壤生境功能产生了负面影响。超过80％的were在对照土壤中。有人认为，这种对土壤生境功能的负面影响可能归因于一系列因素，包括烟灰中重金属的存在以及底物pH，质地和/或渗透压的变化。需要在更长的时间范围内用更精确的灰分剂量范围进行进一步的基于实验室的研究，以及相关的基于实地的研究，以验证结果并确定对灰分阈值的更精确评估，从而导致土壤生境功能丧失。