Earthworms are known to play an important role in soil processes, especially in the regeneration of soil structure. However, quantitative studies about their role on soil physical properties are still scarce. In this study the effects of two earthworm species (Nicodrilus nocturnus as anecic, Allolobophora icterica as endogeic) following three treatments (N. nocturnus only, A. icterica only and both species with 80% weight of N. nocturnus and 20% of A. icterica) on soil specific volumes and pore properties are evaluated in mesocosms (30 cm height and 15 cm diameter) for a loamy Anthrosol and a silt loam Luvisol. The soils were repacked to bulk density observed in the field (1,15 and 1,25 g cm⁻³ respectively) and to compacted bulk density (1,4 and 1,5 g cm⁻³ respectively). Except earthworm-free controls, introduced earthworm biomass was close to 500 g.m⁻². The experiment lasted 23 weeks, under constant temperature and soil matrix potential, and earthworms were fed with hay. The impact of earthworms on soil porosities and specific volumes was assessed using (i) computed tomography on mesocosm and (ii) shrinkage analysis on undisturbed cubic samples (150 cm³). Anecic surface cast bulk density was determined after wax coating.

At mesocosm scale, the specific volume of compacted soils increased significantly with the anecic and mixed earthworm treatments (+1.9% for the Anthrosol and +2.6% for the Luvisol), while no change was observed with endogeics regardless of the initial level of compaction or the soil type. After subtracting the burrow volumes, the remaining soil matrix specific volume showed significant decrease with earthworms in case of loose soils, particularly with endogeics with 5.6% decrease of the specific soil matrix volume, while the compacted soil matrix was not decompacted. At undisturbed cubic sample scale, shrinkage analysis confirmed these observations with earthworms decreasing the larger structural pores and promoting a more rigid plasma. Anecic surface casts showed intermediate bulk density (0.82 cm³ g⁻¹ for the Anthrosol and 0.73 cm³ g⁻¹ for the Luvisol) between compacted (0.73 cm³ g⁻¹ for the Anthrosol and 0.67 cm³ g⁻¹ for the Luvisol) and loose (0.88 cm³ g⁻¹ for the Anthrosol and 0.81 cm³ g⁻¹ for the Luvisol) soil matrices. We concluded that the decompaction effect of earthworms was due to the opening of burrows at mesocosm soil scale, while the matrix volume was i) either compacted in case of loose soil especially with endogeics at the expense of the >150 µm equivalent radius structural pores or ii) unchanged in case of compacted soil. Our results support the conclusion that earthworms alone cannot regenerate the matrix of compacted soils and even compact the soil matrix in case of loose soils.

worm在土壤过程中，特别是在土壤结构的再生中起着重要作用。但是，关于它们对土壤物理性质的作用的定量研究仍然很少。在这项研究中的2种蚯蚓的影响（Nicodrilus暗夜如anecic，Allolobophora icterica如endogeic）以下三种处理（暗夜仅N.，A. icterica仅并用80％重量的两种物种N.暗夜和20％A.黄属）的土壤比容和孔隙特性以肥沃的Anthrosol和粉质壤土Luvisol的中观（30 cm高和15 cm直径）进行评估。将土壤重新包装至现场观察到的堆积密度（分别为1.15和1.25 g cm ^-3）和压实的堆积密度（分别为1.4和1.5 g cm ^-3）。除了无earth的对照外，引入的biomass生物量接近500 gm ^-2。该实验在恒定温度和土壤基质电势下持续了23周，and被饲喂了干草。使用以下方法评估of对土壤孔隙度和比容的影响：（i）中层计算机断层扫描和（ii）未受干扰的立方样品（150 cm ³）的收缩分析）。涂蜡后测定表面的铸件堆积率。

在中观尺度上，采用风化和混合earth处理后，压实土壤的比容显着增加（Anthrosol为+ 1.9％，Luvisol为+ 2.6％），而无论初始压实水平或压实水平如何，内生菌均未观察到变化土壤类型。减去洞穴体积后，在土壤松散的情况下，earth的剩余土壤基质比容显着降低，尤其是内胚层，其比土壤容比降低了5.6％，而压实的土壤基质未压实。在不受干扰的立方样品规模下，收缩分析证实了这些观察结果，worm减少了较大的结构孔并促进了更坚硬的血浆。贫血的表面铸件显示出中等的堆密度（0.82 cm ³ g^-1用于Anthrosol和0.73厘米³克^-1的Luvisol）之间被压实（0.73厘米³克^-1的Anthrosol和0.67厘米³克^-1的Luvisol）和松散的（0.88厘米³克^-1的Anthrosol和0.81 cm ³ g ^-1适用于Luvisol）土壤基质。我们得出的结论是，comp的分解作用是由于中观土壤尺度上的洞穴打开而引起的，而基质体积是i）在松散土壤（尤其是内地凝胶）的情况下被压实，以当量半径大于150 µm的结构性孔隙为代价，或者ii）在压实土壤的情况下保持不变。我们的结果支持这样的结论，即alone本身不能再生压实土壤的基质，甚至在松散土壤的情况下甚至不能压实土壤基质。