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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2025, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (4): 1003-1012.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202504.020

• Special Features of the Soil Ecology and Healthy Agriculture • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of adding basalt powder on organic carbon sequestration in red and yellow-brown soils under earthworm inoculation

TENG Yalin1,2, LI Weiming3, WANG Dongsheng3, LIANG Xihuan4,5, CHEN Jin 4,5, YE Chenglong1,2*, LIU Manqiang6, HU Shuijin7   

  1. 1College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;
    2Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Coastal Saline Soil Resources Utilization and Ecological Conservation, Nanjing 210095, China;
    3Nanjing Institute of Vegetable Science, Nanjing 210042, China;
    4Jinggangshan Institute of Red Soil, Jinggangshan Branch of Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Ji'an 343016, Jiangxi, China;
    5Soil and Fertilizer & Resources and Environment Institute, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Engineering and Technology Research Center for Red Soil Improvement, Nanchang 330200, China;
    6College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China;
    7Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695, North Carolina, USA
  • Received:2024-10-22 Accepted:2025-03-02 Online:2025-04-18 Published:2025-10-18

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Abstract: The enhanced weathering technology of basalt can promote the fixation of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the form of carbonates/bicarbonates in soils. Earthworms can promote mineral weathering, further contributing to carbon fixation. In this study, we selected red and yellow-brown soil as research subjects and set up three treatments [i.e., control (CK), adding basalt powder (B), and adding basalt powder and inoculating earthworms simu-ltaneously (BE)], and explored the impact and potential mechanisms of earthworm-mediated basalt weathering on Amaranthus tricolor growth, soil respiration, microbial abundance, Ca2 and Mg2+, soil total organic C, inorganic C and mineral-bound organic C in the field. The results showed that B and BE treatments significantly increased soil pH and Mg2+ content of both soils, but significantly increased Ca2+ content, soil respiration, aboveground and belowground biomass of A. tricolor only in the red soil. B and BE treatments significantly reduced reactive Fe and Al minerals in both soils and NH4+-N content of the yellow-brown soil, but did not affect NO3--N content of both soils. BE treatment significantly increased bacterial abundance of the red soil, but did not affect fungal abundance of both soils. BE treatment significantly increased inorganic C content only in the yellow-brown soil, but significantly reduced Fe/Al bound organic C of the yellow-brown soil, and had no significant effect on total C and organic C of both soils. In addition, BE treatment had no significant effect on soil organic C, inorganic C and Fe/Al bound organic C of both soils compared with B treatment. The random forest model analysis revealed that fungal abundance is the key factor regulating organic carbon accumulation in red soils, while active aluminum minerals and iron-aluminum minerals are respectively identified as the critical determinants controlling the accumulation of organic carbon and iron-aluminum bound organic carbon in yellow-brown soils. Our results indicate that adding basalt powder to soil can significantly promote plant growth in the short term, but did not affect soil organic C formation. The role of earthworms in promoting basalt weathering and soil organic C sequestration in the short term is limited.

Key words: basalt, weathering, earthworm, Fe and Al oxides, soil organic carbon