{
  "abstract": "Reducing agriculture's dependence on finite mineral phosphorus (P) resources requires enhancing the use of soil legacy P by promoting the biotic cycling of P pools, such as organic P. Soil fauna, especially earthworms, may stimulate microbial activity, yet their role in regulating biotic P cycling remains unclear. Using 18 O-enriched water labelling and stable oxygen isotope of phosphate (δ 18 O–P) in two incubation experiments, we directly tracked biotic P transformations in soils with contrasting P availability with and without earthworms. The δ 18 O–P proved to be a sensitive tool, capturing earthworm-induced changes in microbial P transformations that conventional chemical extractions or enzymatic assays could not detect. We show that, regardless of their ecological group (anecic or endogeic), earthworms significantly increased the turnover of available P by increasing the exchange between the available and microbial P pools, despite having little to no effect on the size of these pools. In the soil with high P availability of the first experiment, earthworms doubled the proportion of microbial P entering available P, increasing it from 20% to 40%. In the soil with low P availability of the second experiment, earthworms with litter inputs stimulated the extracellular mineralisation of organic P, which appeared to be the dominant mechanism for replenishing available P, as indicated by the highest proportion of oxygen atoms (13%) incorporated into available P. These findings reveal that earthworms can stimulate microbial P turnover, a previously overlooked and unquantified mechanism. They also show that earthworms have the potential to mobilise legacy P in low P soils, provided a food source, such as crop residues or amendments, is supplied.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Chiara Pistocchi"
    },
    {
      "name": "A Burr"
    },
    {
      "name": "H M J Vos"
    },
    {
      "name": "F Tamburini"
    },
    {
      "name": "Claude Plassard"
    },
    {
      "name": "J W van Groenigen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alexandru Milcu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mickael Hedde"
    },
    {
      "name": "M B H Ros"
    },
    {
      "name": "A Vidal"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ff611j28673gd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2026.110186",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "ff611j28673gd",
  "issns": [
    "0038-0717"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05805265v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.sde"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "1.sde.be"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1111|Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7160015235",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-19",
  "publisher": "Elsevier",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ff611j28673gd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:59Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05805265",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05805265v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "hal:1.sde.be",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    },
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "hal:0.sde",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Earthworms increase available P turnover through microbial pathways: insights from δ18O in phosphate",
  "title_text": "Earthworms increase available P turnover through microbial pathways: insights from δ18O in phosphate",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:59Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ff611j28673gd",
  "venue": "Soil Biology and Biochemistry",
  "versions": []
}