The Role of Earthworms in Tropics with Emphasis on Indian Ecosystems

Table 5

Physicochemical and climatic characteristics (average) of the study sites 1 to 10 (1997–1999) (refer to Table 6 for study site description) [22].

Parameter observed*	Study sites
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1997
pH	7.78	7.63	7.13	6.86	7.59	7.67	6.78	7.04	7.50	6.55
EC (dS/m)	0.34	0.20	0.38	0.11	0.21	0.18	0.32	0.14	0.27	0.39
OC (%)	1.42	2.29	4.44	2.75	1.47	2.94	3.42	3.05	4.20	7.99
TN (%)	0.41	0.35	0.23	0.23	0.25	0.40	0.42	0.31	0.22	0.40
ST (^∘C)	28.90	29.83	27.84	29.29	30.31	29.27	29.83	23.47	22.49	21.30
SM (%)	8.10	6.34	10.34	7.22	7.16	8.30	10.25	15.75	15.46	14.99
1998
pH	7.95	7.51	7.25	6.66	7.51	7.62	6.45	7.15	7.34	6.44
EC (dS/m)	0.36	0.22	0.38	0.13	0.25	0.16	0.33	0.18	0.31	0.39
OC (%)	1.74	2.19	4.24	2.79	1.43	2.35	4.25	3.19	4.22	8.48
TN (%)	0.44	0.34	0.24	0.27	0.27	0.41	0.41	0.27	0.27	0.38
ST (^∘C)	29.23	30.18	28.27	30.63	29.92	29.30	30.18	24.14	22.68	21.30
SM (%)	12.14	9.93	15.18	9.73	12.83	12.03	14.35	16.00	17.09	16.29
1999
pH	7.85	7.49	7.37	6.85	7.38	7.59	6.47	6.98	7.45	6.64
EC (dS/m)	0.35	0.23	0.34	0.14	0.24	0.17	0.35	0.16	0.26	0.39
OC (%)	1.40	2.45	4.34	2.90	1.36	3.02	4.05	3.45	4.37	9.99
TN (%)	0.46	0.37	0.27	0.26	0.26	0.43	0.41	0.31	0.28	0.39
ST (^∘C)	27.42	28.55	26.49	29.66	30.42	27.46	28.55	25.21	23.51	22.80
SM (%)	9.50	7.27	11.70	8.50	9.27	9.37	10.34	12.56	14.37	13.86

*EC: Electrical conductivity; OC: Organic carbon; TN: total nitrogen; ST: Soil temperature; SM: Soil moisture.