Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A plant cuticle is a protecting film covering the outermost skin layer of leaves, young shoots and other aerial plant organs (aerial here meaning all plant parts not embedded in soil or other substrate) that have no periderm. The film consists of lipid and hydrocarbon polymers infused with wax, and is synthesized exclusively by the epidermal cells.
Earthworms are environmental indicators of soil health. Earthworms feed on the decaying matter in the soil and analyzing the contents of their digestive tracts gives insight into the overall condition of the soil. The earthworm gut accumulates chemicals, including heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, zinc, and copper. The population size of ...
The worm then creeps out backward from the coat and deposits either fertilized zygotes or both ovae and sperm into the coat, which is then packed into a cocoon. The zygotes then develop directly in the cocoon without passing through a larval stage (as opposed to other annelids, e.g. Polychaeta.)
In the soil system, L. terrestris worm casts have a relationship with plants which can be seen in such scenarios as plant propagation from seed or clone. Worm casts initiate root development, root biomass, and in effect, increase root percentage as opposed to the soil and soil systems without worm casts. [6]
Piles of worm castings atop existing soil in a garden. He returned to London on October 21, and prepared a paper on worms forming mould. [4] The paper on the role of earthworms in soil formation was read out by Darwin at the Geological Society of London on 1 November 1837. [5]
Other important functions are fulfilled by earthworms in the soil ecosystem, in particular their intense mucus production, both within the intestine and as a lining in their galleries, [90] exert a priming effect on soil microflora, [91] giving them the status of ecosystem engineers, which they share with ants and termites. [92]
They range in length from less than 0.5 mm (0.02 in) up to 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 ft) in the 'giant' species such as the giant Gippsland earthworm (Megascolides australis) and the Mekong worm (Amynthas mekongianus). [2] Terrestrial oligochaetes are commonly known as earthworms and burrow into the soil.
A cuticle (/ ˈ k juː t ɪ k əl /), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non- homologous , differing in their origin, structure, function, and chemical composition.