近期《自然—通訊》期刊發(fā)表文章,，指蚯蚓吸收土壤中的二氧化碳比排放的多。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)反駁了最近“蚯蚓會導(dǎo)致二氧化碳排放量大幅上升”的說法,。
科學(xué)家知道,，土壤中的二氧化碳是大氣中的兩倍，而蚯蚓對土壤的碳產(chǎn)量,、碳儲存量,、以及碳排放量都有影響。中國科學(xué)院華南植物院傅聲雷與其研究團隊發(fā)現(xiàn)蚯蚓很有可能是碳匯（carbon sink）,，因為蚯蚓吸收的二氧化碳比礦化作用轉(zhuǎn)化的二氧化碳多,。他們的實驗表明，養(yǎng)殖了亞洲蚯蚓和歐洲蚯蚓的土壤,，最初會釋放大量二氧化碳,，但碳排放量會隨著時間被蚯蚓的碳吸收量抵消，因此有蚯蚓與沒蚯蚓的土壤在碳總排放量上相差不大,。作者還提出了一種數(shù)學(xué)公式,，不但能量化蚯蚓對土壤碳儲存量的影響，更能準確預(yù)測土壤碳通量,。
該研究團隊得出的結(jié)論是,，蚯蚓對土壤碳排放量的影響可能被嚴重高估了，至少它們不會令碳排放量增加33％,。然而,，地球上有超過3000種蚯蚓和各種不同的土壤，研究團隊還需要更多的才能確定蚯蚓是“敵”還是“友”,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦的英文摘要
Nature Commmunications doi:10.1038/ncomms3576
Earthworms facilitate carbon sequestration through unequal amplification of carbon stabilization compared with mineralization
Weixin Zhang,，Paul F. Hendrix，Lauren E. Dame,，Roger A. Burke,，Jianping Wu，Deborah A. Neher,，Jianxiong Li,，Yuanhu Shao& Shenglei Fu
A recent review concluded that earthworm presence increases CO2 emissions by 33% but does not affect soil organic carbon stocks. However， the findings are controversial and raise new questions. Here we hypothesize that neither an increase in CO2 emission nor in stabilized carbon would entirely reflect the earthworms’ contribution to net carbon sequestration. We show how two widespread earthworm invaders affect net carbon sequestration through impacts on the balance of carbon mineralization and carbon stabilization. Earthworms accelerate carbon activation and induce unequal amplification of carbon stabilization compared with carbon mineralization,， which generates an earthworm-mediated ‘carbon trap’. We introduce the new concept of sequestration quotient to quantify the unequal processes. The patterns of CO2 emission and net carbon sequestration are predictable by comparing sequestration quotient values between treatments with and without earthworms. This study clarifies an ecological mechanism by which earthworms may regulate the terrestrial carbon sink.
