The leaves of Acer platanoides: potential food for earthworm Eisenia fetida

Abstract

This study aimed to establish if the dried shredded leaves of Acer platanoides could represent an adequate food for earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny 1826) (red wiggler worm). The study was carried out in laboratory conditions and its aims were to determine the influence of this food on three biological parameters of earthworm Eisenia fetida (survival, weight, and prolificacy), and to reveal the changes appearing into the soil in the presence of this earthworm species, fed or not with shredded leaves of Acer platanoides, regarding the concentration of several parameters: the total nitrogen, available potassium, and available phosphorus. The results showed that the leaves of Acer platanoides could be an appropriate food for earthworms Eisenia fetida. This experiment showed that the leaves of Acer platanoides represent an adequate food for the earthworms Eisenia fetida because a low mortality was recorded (16,7% in controls, respectively 10% in the boxes with earthworms fed with dried shredded leaves of Acer platanoides, at the end of the experiment).