Inability of Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to identify belowground earthworm casts in no-tillage soil

•The properties of casts collected at 20–30 cm soil depth suggest they were mainly produced by endogeic species.•Carbon and nitrogen content and NIRS signature were similar between casts and surrounding soils.•The usefulness of using NIRS to differentiate cast aggregation may be context-dependent.

Several studies have emphasised the ability of Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to identify surface earthworm casts in the field. However, less is known about casts deposited within the soil, which usually represent the majority found in the field. This study tested the ability of NIRS to identify belowground casts in agricultural systems. Casts and surrounding soils were sampled at depths of 20–30 cm in a loamy soil under no tillage for 12 years. To distinguish different types of cast, sizes and orientations relative to the horizontal plane were measured. NIRS analyses and analyses of carbon and nitrogen content were also performed to compare casts to surrounding soils. Casts were classified into 4 size classes, with no preferential orientation. Cast carbon and nitrogen content were not influenced by their size and did not differ from surrounding soils. PCAs performed on the NIRS data did not allow casts to be differentiated from surrounding soils, regardless of size class. However, soil aggregates were clearly differentiated probably due to their spatial distribution in the soil. Although this study did not identify specific NIRS signatures for casts, it shows the utility of this method to investigate the origin of the soil consumed by earthworms. In our case, NIRS analyses suggest that the high bulk density of the soil (1.42 g cm−3) forced ingestion by endogeic earthworms, simply to move around, without preferential selection for organic matter. Consequently, their casts were deposited a few mm from where they had ingested soil with similar organic matter quality.