Edaphic fauna in soil profile after three decades of different soil management and cover crops in a subtropical region.

This research evaluated the effects of long-term (30 years) winter cover crops under conventional farming system and no-tillage system on edaphic fauna in a Rhodic Hapludox soil, from Paraná State, Brazil. We used three winter cover crops (black oat, hairy vetch and fallow), and as a reference a fragment of natural forest. Soil monoliths were collected at two times, one during the flowering of maize (April 2013) and the other during the flowering of soybean (January 2014).

Influence of earthworms on the microbial properties and extracellular enzyme activities during vermicomposting of raw and distilled grape marc.

The treatment of winery wastes by using appropriate management technologies is of utmost need in order to reduce to a minimum their disposal and avoid negative environmental impacts. This is of particular interest for grape marc, the main solid by-product of the winery industry. However, comparative studies on a pilot-scale dealing with the impact of earthworms on marc derived from both red and white grape varieties during vermicomposting are still scarce.

Vermicomposting of cow manure: Effect of time on earthworm biomass and chemical, physical, and biological properties of vermicompost.

Vermicomposting is a biological process for efficient cattle manure treatment, but the vermicomposting time determines the quality of the vermicompost. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of cattle manure vermicomposting time on earthworm biomass and the changes in physical, chemical, and biological in properties of the vermicompost. The cattle manure was inoculated with Eisenia andrei earthworms and conducted vermicomposting for 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 120 days.

Rapid Bacterial Community Changes during Vermicomposting of Grape Marc Derived from Red Winemaking.

Previous studies dealing with changes in microbial communities during vermicomposting were mostly performed at lab-scale conditions and by using low-throughput techniques. Therefore, we sought to characterize the bacterial succession during the vermicomposting of grape marc over a period of 91 days in a pilot-scale vermireactor. Samples were taken at the initiation of vermicomposting, and days 14, 28, 42, and 91, representing both active and mature stages of vermicomposting.