Editor's Note: This story was originally printed with the title "Crawling to Oblivion"

12 Comments

1. 1. pgtruspace 01:33 AM 2/17/09

   O'my god earth worms are causing Global Warming. We need a few more million dollars to study the problem and form a plan to save the planet from total distruction. May we should line up a few virgins to sacrifice to the gods to save us. Or maybe not and just tell the good dr. to study something of greater importance. Sometimes you can't do anything about change just deal with it.

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2. 2. ildenizen 08:22 AM 3/10/09

   When the first response is sarcasm, it must mean you really have nothing to contribute. Way to troll for any mention of AGW and miss the actual point of the article.

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3. 3. Hathaway 09:12 AM 3/10/09

   I really want to chime in and agree with he second response. Attacking serious issues just because you are too dim to understand them or because they conflict with your political agenda is the kind of childish behavior that has led us straight into the mess we are in.
   
   This story is an important story. It points out, among other things, that managing ecosystems is a much more complicated problem than most people imagine -- almost all green-minded people would agree that community mulching and composting services are a good idea, but here we see the dark side.

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4. 4. Richieo 09:45 AM 3/10/09

   So "fishers" pay out money for bait, then throw it away, not where I come from. how would European or Asian worms get there?

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5. 5. sofistek 02:46 AM 3/11/09

   Ignoring the first useless comment ... if this research is accurate, it illustrates yet again that there are consequences in anything we do. We have to start thinking, if we want to leave a habitable planet to our kids, never mind have one ourselves.

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6. 6. peevee73 in reply to Richieo 12:15 PM 8/27/09

   Invasive earthworms come into Canada first via importation in soil under plants from Japan. Canadains, seeing that these worms work very well for fishing, will pack them with Canadian earthworms and sell the lot for fishing bait. That is how they become introduced to our soils. Once introduced to fishing holes along creeks, or discarded in the forests, they will propagate very quickly creating a threat to our wildlife

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7. 7. The Worm Dude 04:24 PM 7/21/10

   When worms process material, they leave behind castings. Castings are known for being loaded with beneficial bacteria, and are known for making your plants THRIVE. Why would this area show no growth.
   
   There are hundreds of publications from experts (Ohio State, University of North Carolina) that review the benefits of worm castings.
   
   This article is a sham.

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8. 8. The Worm Dude 04:26 PM 7/21/10

   When worms process organic material, they leave behind castings. Castings are known for being loaded with beneficial bacteria, and are known for making your plants THRIVE. Why would this area show no growth.
   
   There are hundreds of publications from experts (Ohio State, University of North Carolina) that review the benefits of worm castings.
   
   This article is a sham.

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9. 9. The Worm Dude 04:27 PM 7/21/10

   When worms process organic material, they leave behind castings. Castings are known for being loaded with beneficial bacteria, and are known for making your plants THRIVE. Why would this area show no growth.
   
   There are hundreds of publications from experts (Ohio State, University of North Carolina) that review the benefits of worm castings.
   
   This article is a sham.

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10. 10. Ambystoma 03:00 PM 8/13/11

    No offense, Worm Dude, but your knowledge of invasive earthworms is a sham.
    
    Worm castings can't stabilize a forest floor microclimate and retain moisture the way a robust leaf-litter bed can. Leaf litter beds provide habitat for wildlife and insulation for the root systems of perennial plants during the winter months. All the nutrients in the world won't help a plant that's drying out faster in the summer and getting colder during the winter. I also doubt that organisms like arthropods and amphibians will find piles of earthworm castings to be preferable habitat to leaf litter beds.
    
    Despite your assertion that all earthworm castings are "loaded with beneficial bacteria", Amynthas agrestis have been shown to digest soil microbes as they move through the topsoil, leaving the soil with fewer net microbes. I haven't seen anything published yet showing exactly how much of an impact that has on plant life, but it certainly doesn't help.
    
    Even if Amynthas castings were plant super-food and teeming with microbes, that still wouldn't substitute for the moisture retaining and insulating properties of a healthy bed of leaf litter. So it's completely logical that these types of leaf-litter eating worms would lead to a net loss in plant diversity, not to mention the negative effects on forest food webs the article also mentioned.
    
    This article highlights that even the most seemingly insignificant thing - such as an invasive earthworm - can have a big impact on our native ecosystems.
    
    
    
    
    
    

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11. 11. The Worm Dude 05:12 PM 8/13/11

    "Amynthas agrestis have been shown to digest soil microbes as they move through the topsoil, leaving the soil with fewer net microbes."
    
    Any proof of this statement?

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12. 12. Ambystoma in reply to The Worm Dude 04:57 PM 8/30/11

    Here is a link to the paper I referenced, published last year by the Ecological Society of America. Microbe densities were determined through phospholipid fatty acid analysis.
    
    http://www.esajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1890/09-0979.1

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