Anybody see the July 7 article about earthworms in the Wall Street
Journal?
It seems that people are finally learning that worms are not the wonderful
things the worm dealers would have us think.

FACT: Earthworms do not create good soil, they migrate toward good soil.
After finding good soil, they attract moles.

Actually, this is rather humoresque -- the July 7th edition of the WSJ is
currently on my new bed, covered by about 3-4 inches of mulch. I used it as
a weed barrier/grass smotherer in lieu of digging the bed out.

Let's eliminate a few bits of fluff from the article and get to some key
points.

1) "The Worm Turns: It's Down To No Good off Home Turf / Interloper in
Northern Forests Devours Undergrowth Other Fine Creatures Need"

This is the title of the article. Note that it starts off by suggesting
that worms are no good when they get out of their habitat -- i.e., gardens
and farms -- and into forests.

2) "To be sure, on farms and in gardens, earthworms can be beneficial. They
help stir the soil and replace nutrients."

I do not think anything further REALLY needs to be said about this. Most
gardens and farms are not quite the same as a forest so this makes good
sense.

3) "But they're exotic creatures in vast stretches of North America,
including nearly all of Canada and the northern U.S. The reason: About
10,000 years ago, glaciers retreated from these areas, leaving the region
earthworm free. For thousands of years thereafter, forests and other
ecosystems in these parts evolved in a state of wormlessness."

Makes sense again -- here we have an ecosystem that does not have
earthworms. This same ecosystem does not have quite a few other things as
well. To paraphrase the article -- earthworms were moved into these
ecosystems by man, much like many species of plants that have proven to be
bad news, or animals that runwithout predators (can you say feral cats in
Australia?). The earthworm populatoins came with settlers as ballast in
their ships as well as in their plants and even their animals, fishers dump
leftover bait along the shores of fishing areas, etc..

4) "For centuries before the worms arrived, fallen leaves and other forest
litter decomposed slowly, creating a spongy layer of organic material,
called duff, which provides habitats for plants and ground-dwelling animals.
Now the earthworms are getting to the duff first, and eating it out from
under species that rely on it. Earthworms typically eat more than 10 times
their body weight each month. Studies have shown that when worms invade, the
duff layer is devoured in three to five years."

Now, here we see WHY earthworms pose a threat to these ecosystems -- the
very same behavior that makes them so beneficial to home gardens and farming
make them devastating to forest ecosystems.

To summarize all of this -- the article is sound as is the journalist's
research HOWEVER it is a directed topic. This has absolutely NOTHING to do
with gardens or farming -- it is STILL recognized that earthworms are highly
beneficial to gardens and farming. It has, however, been found that when
earthworms are transplanted to a different ecosystem, such as native
forests, they have an undesirable effect on existing life-forms in that
ecosystem. In the case at hand, that effect is on plant and animal life
that rely on "duff". This is to be expected whenever an alien species is
introduced to a new environment.

Noting Darwinian theory, these life-forms may well be selected for
extinction now that another has invaded their ecosystem. Alternatively,
they may adapt and survive. Either way, homeostasis will be achieved.

James