Earthworms as bioindicators of soil contamination with heavy metals

Abstract

Significant degradation of the soil, that plays the important role in the maintaining of ecological balance, is the result of anthropogenic human activity, it is the waste of large factories they are building, the proliferation of gas-powered vehicles, the dumping of various kinds of garbage, and the activities of life. From the soil, plants absorb all the nutrients necessary for growth and maturation, and they are in turn eaten by human and animals, who release the products of their metabolism into the soil. This is how the cycle of substances in nature takes place. As a result of human anthropogenic impact, the properties of the soil change, and its ability to self-purification deteriorates. This can cause disturbances in soil metabolism, and as a result, deterioration of soil mineralization processes, and the increase of the concentration of heavy metal ions in the soil and groundwater used for drinking purposes, that could cause serious diseases in the population. Therefore, the contamination of the soil with heavy metals and the diagnosis of its condition is the urgent topic. This article considers the possibility of using of earthworms for bioindication of the state of the soil cover in the South of Kazakhstan.