Earthworms, Darwin and prehistoric agriculture-Chernozem genesis reconsidered

Dreibrod, Stefan and Hofmann, Robert and Dal Corso, Marta and Bork, Haans-Rudolf and Duttmann, Rainer and Martini, Sarah and Saggau, Philipp and Schwark, Lorenz and Shatilo, Liudmyla and Videiko, Mykhailo and Nadeau, Marie-Jose and Grootes, Pieter and Kirleis, Wiebke and Müller, Johannes (2021) Earthworms, Darwin and prehistoric agriculture-Chernozem genesis reconsidered Geoderma, 409 (115607). ISSN 0016-7061

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Abstract

Chernozems are among the most fertile agricultural soils on Earth and are important terrestrial carbon reservoirs. Since the Miocene-advent of grassland-ecosystems, they develop on fine-grained calcareous parent materials, generally in continental climates. So far, no theory explains all Chernozem occurrences. This limits modeling of their long-term soil carbon dynamics. Insights gained on Chernozems that buried prehistoric archaeological features in central Ukraine provide a key. Prehistoric agriculture favored anecic earthworm abundance and anecic earthworm surface casting delivers the best explanation for coeval Chernozem genesis, its properties, and distribution, an idea originally put forward by Darwin. Anecic earthworms transfer soil material upwards due to the necessity to clear their vertical burrow permanently from material fallen in. While Chernozems in the climatic steppe form under climate conditions that limit epigeic and endogeic earthworms naturally, the patchy and time-transgressive Chernozem occurrences in temperate humid Europe would reflect sites where the proliferation of anecic earthworms at the expense of the former ecological groups resulted from early Anthropocene landscape transformations. We will have to add anecic earthworms to the Neolithic Package that identifies the socioeconomical transformations related to sedentarism and evolving agrarian production modes of cereal cultivation and animal husbandry.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Chernozem; Anecic earthworms; Soil Formation; Trypillia Chalcolithic Giant Settlement Sites; Anthropocene; Central Ukraine;
Subjects: Це архівна тематика Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Статті у наукометричних базах > Scopus
Це архівна тематика Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Статті у наукометричних базах > Web of Science
Divisions: Це архівні підрозділи Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Факультет суспільно-гуманітарних наук > Кафедра археології та давньої історії
Depositing User: д.і.н. Михайло Юрієвич Відейко
Date Deposited: 15 Dec 2021 11:41
Last Modified: 15 Dec 2021 11:42
URI: https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/39695

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