The role of earthworms in the direct transfer of dissolved soil organic carbon to plants is poorly understood. We quantified this effect by examining the root uptake of carbon from ¹³C-labeled rice straw in a greenhouse experiment with three non-flooded Philippine soils that greatly differed in texture (from light sandy to loam). Measurements of carbon stable isotope signatures of aerobic rice and maize over a two-month period revealed that earthworms positively affected ¹³C transfer from rice straw to rice plants but not to maize plants. However, this effect was significant only in loamy and not in sandy soils. Although the direct uptake of dissolved carbon from soil had no impact on rice production, it indicated a widely ignored option to mitigate carbon loss from crop residue decomposition and associated climate risks. Its enhancement by earthworms confirms the important role of this taxon as soil engineers.

人们对蚯蚓在将溶解的土壤有机碳直接转移给植物方面的作用知之甚少。我们通过在温室实验中检查根部从^{13 C 标记的稻草中吸收碳的情况来量化这种效应，实验中使用了三种质地差异很大的非淹水菲律宾土壤（从轻质沙土到壤土）。}两个月内对需氧水稻和玉米的碳稳定同位素特征的测量表明，蚯蚓对¹³ C 从稻草到水稻植物的转移有积极影响，但对玉米植物没有影响。然而，这种效应仅在壤质土壤中显着，而在沙质土壤中则不显着。。尽管从土壤中直接吸收溶解碳对水稻生产没有影响，但它表明了一种被广泛忽视的减少作物残茬分解造成的碳损失和相关气候风险的选择。蚯蚓的增强证实了该分类单元作为土壤工程师的重要作用。