Snail and earthworm are very sensitive to pesticides. If a farmer apply pesticides in resonable amount/dose, these two insects may be safe. It will be easy to monitor the health of an agriculture field and avoid indiscriminate use of pesticides.
Earthworms and snails can be excellent indicators of the health of the ecosystem. If there is absence of earthworms and snails something may be wrong and need to investigated. Earthworms will increase as tillage is reduced legumes are planted permanent covers are used and soils are amended with organic materials. I am attaching an earthworm talk for your interest and use.
@Dr Nafees Mohammad
Sorry to specify you that Snail and earthworm are not Insects. Here are their systematic positions.
Snail systematic position :
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Gastropoda
Phylum: Mollusca
Earthworm systematic position
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Clitellata
Phylum: Annelida
Order: Megadrilacea
Insect systematic position
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Euarthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Dear Oum Kalthoum Ben Hassine,
Thank you for such details. Generally we calling it insects. This is why I have used the word "insect" for these. I am sorry for this irregular use of word "insect".
Now come to the question.
We can use snail and earthworm as indicator of pesticides pollution. If yes, how?
Thank you Dr Nafees Mohammad for your prompt reply.
To answer your question, you need the opinion of a specialist who works on these issues. For my part my field of specialization concerns marine biology and ecology.
Best regards
Earthworms and snails can be excellent indicators of the health of soils but they are just 2 organisms which are part of a much larger diversity within soil biota. They are part of a much bigger soil food web where mites, collembola, symphilans, and many other micro invertebrates contribute with their ecologies and metabolisms to support life in-and-above ground. Agricultural practices such as: soil tillage and the application of agrichemicals reduce abundance and diversity of soil life, making agriculture even more dependent on the same practices I have mentioned above and thus reducing farming to an extractive activity. Fostering soil life and the health of the soil community enhances the sustainability of farming systems, making agriculture regenerative and restorative.
Respected Bruno Borsari,
Thank you for your response.
Snail feed on green leaves, while earthworm get its food from organic matter present in soil. This is why I asked about these two.
In case, if pesticides, especially herbicides are applied, will damage snail. If pesticides/herbicides are used in excess and mixed with soil, will be harmful for earthworm.
Dear Dr. Mohammad,
Pesticides have been conceived to target a specific organism, or group of organisms without any concern for the long terms effects of their use on living organisms in general. I would predict that a regular use of synthetic products whether they are pesticides, or fertilizers is going to reduce the abundance and diversity of soil biota. Consequently, the soil becomes more homogeneous and thus, potentially vulnerable to damages caused to the agronomic crop by living organisms that find suitable conditions to thrive in an environment where biodiversity has been shrunk. This treadmill (if remains as such) will require the applications of more synthetic chemicals and more toxic compounds with inevitable consequences for public, environmental health and the opportunity for the land to remain productive.
Earthworms are sensitive to ammoniated fertilizer which lower pH and reduce the calcium metabolism they depend upon. Liming acid soil is a good way to improve their population and productivity. Likewise pesticides can be very inhibitory to earthworms. Snails might be similarly sensitive. Optimizing the soil pH is very important for stimulating a wide range of soil biological species.
Does anybody know what species of earthworm are more tolerant of low pH levels? I was thinking especially in terms of blueberry since it prefers very low pH (4.5-6). Do they feed on alternative things at lower pH levels or are they extremely calcium dependent?
You can see a lot of aquatic snails in the rice fields in Vietnam, despite the huge amount of pesticides.
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