Abstract:Office wastepaper, as a common organic waste, is not easy to reuse because of their small size and high costs of converting into recycled paper. A large amount of organic carbon (especially cellulose) in wastepaper may improve the remediation of degraded soil. Earthworm plays an important role on organic matter decomposition and other soil functions. Effects of office wastepaper and earthworms on the comprehensive quality of nutrient-poor soil are still largely unknown. In this study, Eisenia fetida were inoculated into the nutrient-poor soil along with office wastepaper in the laboratory for 90 days. Four treatments were conducted as follows:soil (S), soil+wastepaper (SP), soil+E. fetida (SE), and soil+wastepaper+earthworms (SPE). Soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total potassium (TK), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK), cation exchange capacity (NaEx, KEx, CaEx, MgEx), phosphdipid fatty acid (PLFAs) were determined in different treatments. Effects of wastepaper and E. fetida on the comprehensive quality of nutrient-poor soil were evaluated. Results were shown as follows:89.48% increase of wastepaper decomposition were found in the SPE than SP treatment. Significant increases of soil pH value were observed in SP (8.37) than that of S treatment (P<0.05). Soil pH value was at a neutral level in SPE. Compared with control (S), the SOC, NaEx, CaEx and MgEx of SP treatment increased by 125.76%, 154.00%, 65.28%, and 55.25%. SOC, TN, TP, AK, KEx, NaEx, CaEx, and MgEx of SPE increased by 1365.29%, 36.26%, 42.84%, 42.69%, 160.35%, 386.00% and 110.36%. The addition of office wastepaper significantly improved soil microbial PLFAs contents (P<0.05). PLFAs contents of fungi (F), actinomycetes (ACT), gram-positive bacteria (G+), gram-negative bacteria (G-), common bacteria (CB), and total PLFAs (T-P) contents of SP and SPE treatments significantly increased (P<0.05). Moreover, the value of fungi PLFAs/bacteria PLFAs (F/B) of SP and SPE treatment significantly increased while gram-positive PLFAs/gram-negative PLFAs (G+/G-) remarkably reduced (P<0.05). Principal component analysis and general indicator quality showed that the addition of wastepaper and the inoculation of earthworm improved soil comprehensive quality significantly (P<0.05). The average soil quality index showed that SPE > SP > S and more close relationship were observed between soil quality and microbial PLFAs. In summary, effects of office wastepaper and earthworm could improve soil comprehensive quality by adjusting microbial community structure and biomass, and changing soil pH and nutrient content in the nutrient-poor soil. It provided a scientific base on the resource utilization of office wastepaper and the remediation of nutrient-poor soils.