Anecic species such as Lumbricus terrestris feed on
surface litter, build and live in large gallery networks,
translocate large amounts of leaf litter into the soil profile,
and produce casts on the soil surface that contribute to
intimatemixing of soil and organic particles. Endogeic species
such as Pontoscolex corethrurus live and feed within the soil on
organic substrates of different qualities like roots and SOM
and produce casts and burrows that are important sites of
microbial and plant root activity as well as organic matter
decomposition (Lavelle and Spain, 2001; Coleman et al., 2004).