Abstract: This paper summarized the characteristics of different ecological categories of earthworms and their ecological functions in soil, the effects of the earthworms on soil heavy metal accumulation and bioavailability as well as their mechanisms in affecting heavy metal activation, and pointed out the deficiencies and future directions in the study of related biochemical mechanisms. Aimed at the present situations about the applications of earthworm in agricultural and environment fields, it was suggested that earthworm could be used as a biological resource for the phytoextraction of the heavy metals in contaminated soil, more laboratory simulation studies using real soil and field experiments would be required, and to further approach the related techniques for selecting and breeding native earthworm species and for organic matter addition would be the important issues in the future.  

Key words: newly-established green belt, vegetation type, soil physico-chemical property., soil water reservoir, compaction