Data from: Earthworms promote crop growth by enhancing the connections among soil microbial communities

Earthworms benefit plant growth and play a vital role in shaping soil
microbial communities. However, how earthworms modify the soil
microorganisms and thus affect plant growth is still unclear. Although
fertilizers alter the assembly of microbial communities, further
investigations are required to test the effect of fertilizer type on the
relationship between earthworms, soil microbial communities, and plants.
We evaluated the role of earthworms in soil microorganisms and maize plant
growth characteristics under organic or chemical fertilizers in field and
greenhouse experiments. We explored the relationships between earthworms,
soil microbial community, and plant growth under different fertilizer
types. We found that the presence of earthworms promoted plant
growth, increased the amount of plant root exudates, and enhanced the
connections between rhizosphere bacterial, fungal, and protist
communities. Both earthworms and fertilizer application significantly
changed the structure of soil bacterial, fungal, and protist communities.
The complexity of the soil microbial community network increased under
organic, compared to chemical fertilizer application. The greenhouse
experiment showed that the effect of earthworms on plant growth was
weakened when maize plants were grown in sterilized soil under organic or
chemical fertilizers. Synthesis and applications: Our study
provides solid evidence that earthworms largely depend on soil
microorganisms for their effects on plants under the application of
different fertilizer conditions. This may provide new insights into
reducing the amounts of fertilizer used by enhancing the role of
earthworms and soil microorganisms.