ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Bacterial Community Succession in Earthworm
Mucus and Sludge Compost and Its Relationship
with Environmental Factors
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1
School of Earth and Environment, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001, China
2
Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin
Co-founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of Education, Wuhu 241000, China
3
Engineering laboratory of comprehensive utilization and ecological protection of soil and water resources in high
diving level mining area of Anhui province, Huainan 232001, China
4
College of Biological Engineering, Huainan Normal University, Huainan 232001, China
5
Key Laboratory of Bioresource and Environmental Biotechnology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes,
Huainan 232038, China
6
School of Metallurgy and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650031, China
7
Anhui Open Source Landscaping Engineering Co., LTD, Hefei 230031, China
Submission date: 2023-12-09
Final revision date: 2024-01-10
Acceptance date: 2024-01-26
Online publication date: 2024-04-11
Publication date: 2024-07-12
Corresponding author
Xingming Wang
School of Earth and Environment, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(5):5913-5923
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ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effects of adding earthworm mucus on the changes in sludge compost
bacterial community structure and its response to environmental factors. The results showed that adding
earthworm mucus improved the composting effect of sludge, reducing nitrogen loss and increasing
nutrients; nitrogen loss decreased by 5.55%, and potassium and phosphorus increased by 10.23 and
16.28%, respectively. Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria were the main bacterial
phyla in the sludge, with a combined relative abundance of over 60%. The addition of earthworm mucus
significantly impacted bacterial community structure and composting activity, increasing the relative
abundance of dominant bacteria during the process. Redundancy analysis showed that environmental
factors significantly impacted the changes in bacterial community structure during composting. The results
indicate that the addition of earthworm mucus increases the relative abundance of advantageous bacteria
playing essential roles in sludge composting, enhancing the fertility and maturity of sludge composting
products by significantly reducing nitrogen loss and increasing potassium and phosphorus. Based on the
response relationship between environmental factors and bacterial communities, the bacterial community
structure in sludge composting can be improved by regulating environmental factors (such as pH and
moisture content), enhancing the effectiveness of sludge composting.