Octolasium

1. Octolasium cyaneum
2. Octolasium transpadanum

1. Octolasium cyaneum

[ref. ID; 7054]

Test system

Strains

Toxicants

Test design

• Container experiment: Four plastic containers (35x26.5x29 cm = 27 L) were filled with soil from the original habitat of worm. This soil was a loess-derived brown earth soil with local gley horizons at a beech-oak pine forest site in the northern part of Switzerland. The soil-filled containers were left in an aerated greenhouse at outdoor temperatures and remained undisturbed, but regularly rinsed, for 18 months. At the end of this period, 6-7 individual earthworms were put into each vessel. At the beginning of a six week-experiment, the four containers were irrigated once with varying amounts of copper sulfate solution in one half of the container, whereas the other half received an equal amout of distilled water only. After this one-time treatment, the pots received no further irrigation. Copper concentration 40-200 ppm soluble copper.
• Copper uptake experiment: The worms were put into glass dishes of 19x9 cm, into which two different soil types had been introduced: (1) the brown earth soil from the original habitat (C: 3.3%, N: 0.15%, Ca: 0.13%, background total copper: 51.6-54 ppm, pH 4.24 (1M KCl) and 4.78 (H2O)), (2) a commercial peat soil (C: 42.6%, N: 1.41%, Ca: 0.441%, background total copper: 13.4-15.4, pH 4.5 (color)). The worms were kept in a dark room at 17-18 degrees C. Moisture was held constant throughout the whole acclimation and experimental period by replacing daily the water evaporated, which was estimated from the total weight of the dishes and soil. Copper concentration 100-2700 ppm.

Measurements/observations

• Container experiment: Numbers of living and dead worms. Copper concentration in worm tissue.
• Copper uptake experiment: Copper concentration in worm tissue.

2. Octolasium transpadanum

[ref. ID; 7626 (in German)]

Test system

Strains

Toxicants

Test design

Measurements/observations