Researchers Build a Case for Earthworm's Slimy Reputation (Earthworms: The Silent Killers)

New York Times ^ | October 28, 2003 | ANNE MINARD

[berkeleybeej]

Very interesting article. I had been thinking about introducing earthworms into my garden...don't think I will now.

[presidio9]

These photos were clearly taken at different times of year. In the photo on the right, there is leaf coverage on the ground (even though all of these theorists suggest that one of the worms' crimes is eating all the decaying leaves), just like the woods behind my house right now. The herbal undergrowth has all died back by now. That tends to happen at this time of year. It's called autumn. This whole thing reminds me of global warming. Enviornmentally conscious scientists are not sure whether there is a problem or what might be causing it, so they assigne a man made cause to the perceived "problem."

[Williams]

OK I read this and other than buckthorn growing it did not make a strong case that worms are destroying anything. Maybe this is worthwhile I can assure you it is -- to the researcher's pocketbook on the form of grants.

[presidio9]

I had been thinking about introducing earthworms into my garden...don't think I will now.

No need. As the entire country will soon be overrun with hostile alien worms that are destroying the enviornment, worms should begin arriving in your backyard any moment.

[berkeleybeej]

worms should begin arriving in your backyard any moment

LOL

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

For real time political chat - Radio Free Republic chat room

[E.G.C.]

Oklahoma Agriculture Bump

[cogitator]

According to the article that's at the second link I posted, the researchers don't just theorize that the worms eat the leaf litter at a rapid rate, they've measured it. Read the paragraph that begins "Gundale suspected..." in the second article.

[presidio9]

Read the article again. The scientists proved that the worms are capable of eating leaves and plant matter, not that this is common behavior for them in the wild.

[js1138]

Earthworm ping. This is all Darwin's fault. He started the viscious, atheistic belief that earthworms are good.

[Billthedrill]

I don't care what the scientists say, I ain't stickin' the little buggers on my fish-hook.

[Tribune7]

A great conservative movie.

[presidio9]

Earthworm ping. This is all Darwin's fault. He started the viscious, atheistic belief that earthworms are good.

How dare you make light of a very series problem?
1) Worms was here.
2) We caused an ice age by not burning enough fossil fuels.
3) Worms came back, but they were somehow different.

[general_re]

Death from below...

[Willie Green]

Ms. Hale speaks from experience. "I started a worm farm when I was a kid at my house," she said. "Now our oak woods is nothing but buckthorn."
The transformed forests of Ms. Hale's childhood exemplify the long-term effects wrought by invasive worms.

I thought the oaks were being attacked by gypsy moths.
IMHO, the earthworm is being used as a scapegoat.

[js1138]

Talk about insidious. I do notice a difference between my beloved Florida earthworms and those pictured in books. No problem here with oak trees. You have to jump back when an acorn hits the ground, or risk being impaled. (Did I spell that right?)

[Vigilantcitizen]

Another worm victim sees the frying pan

[general_re]

I've noticed a difference as well. They appear to be...evolving...

[tsomer]

new research suggests that earthworms, many of them immigrants from Europe, can become destructive when they invade forests.

It wasn't Europe, it was England. We know this because they are asexual.

If anyone deserves a grant for conroling this population, it's Micky-D's. (That's MacDonalds, for you English descendents.)

[The Californian]

Very interesting article. I had been thinking about introducing earthworms into my garden...don't think I will now.

I really, really hope you are joking.