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#16
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On Thu, 07 Apr 2005 18:54:23 GMT, "Travis"
wrote: I said that I was wrong Keep repeating that phrase, it best describes MOST of your responses.! |
#17
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This has been a fascinating thread in its own odd way. The query seems
absurd at first blush, but worms do pull decaying leafmatter partway down their tunnel in order to avoid being out where salamanders might get them at night or birds get them during the day if they were eating above ground, or where sun or drying winds might dessicate them. Small earthworms wouldn't pull anything into their tunnel large enough for us to notice, but a big nightcrawler do, & periodically a set of leaves will be spotted standing straight up on the surface of the ground, with just the stem in the ground. In some locations the worms do such a good job of pulling small leaves underground that all the fallen leaves vanish after one night of rain; it's part of how worms churn the soil & keep organic matter well-stirred into the topsoil. We tend to think of the doings of worms as 100% good. But the worm's leaf-snatching activity is not invariably a good thing. Most of the worms in our landscapes are invasive species that did not exist in North America before the arrival of Europeans, & native plants don't always cohabit with these worms successfully. In many forested areas none of these worms are found, if fishermen never introduced them, & in such truly "natural" North American wildernesses the undergrowth can be very different than what is found growing where European worms have gotten established. THere are a large number of native plants that evolved to thrive in decaying leafmatter as it accumulates on the surface of the ground, such as trilliums. Some of the worms burrow very deeply, & pull leaves & beneficial fungus lower than small plants' roots will ever reach; furthermore, by eating up all the beneficial fungus in a given area, even shrubs & trees can begin to languish, because trees & shrubs cannot process their nutrients without beneficial fungus in the soil to assist in sugar conversion, plus the beneficial fungus that worms turn to worm-castings or pull too deep into the soil are pathogen-retardants & when the healthy fungus is all eaten up or dragged too deep, the entire ecosystem of that area becomes more susceptible to disease. Furthermore, a layer of leaflitter in a forest serves as the forest's "skin," & without it invasive plant species that did not evolve for leaflittered forest floors get established & crowd out native plants. For all these reasons which begin with the introduction of alien worms, the most sensitive native plant species are dying out of some regions because of the rising population of invasive worms. Here's a fine introductory article on the bad worms can do as they remove decaying leaves & funguses from the ecosystem: http://www.wvnps.org/earthworms.html In the garden this does not necessarily apply as many of our plants come from the same regions where the worms originate & are adapted to them, & we tend to ammend soils in our gardens with manure topcoatings or other organic methods that keep the microorgism population, including beneficial fungus, very high. Even our habit of watering regularly keeps micropopulations at maximum. And folks such as myself who grow dogtooth lilies & trilliums & native ferns which evolved in heavy leaflitter uneaten by worms, we can make the extra effort to insure that autumn leaves are moved to places around these plants. But in the nearby woods the worms can be harmful. Forest ecology tends to be stable, or changes from type of forest to another over a period of centuries, unlike a dynamic garden that changes rapidly. The doings of worms in the garden fascilitates rapid growth & rapid changes, but in the wilderness the same worms hamper stability & slow change. -paghat the ratgirl -- Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government." -Thomas Jefferson |
#18
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You write great and provide great descriptions of things. I'm going
to disagree though about earth worms being the destructive force as you're describing it. 1) I know very little about earth worms. 2) There has been more devistation to forestry by man than by any other animal on the face of this planet and if compare the destruction of each, the destruction by earthworms pales in comparison. I don't know about leaf snatching. I know I'm seeing worms under piles of leaves though. They seem to like the moistness of the soil under the leaves. I don't think I've seen a worm in dry soil/sand. Which makes me wonder, where the heck do they come from? I'm betting the leaves, when they get on the ground together and do their humpty dumpty stuff, excrete earthworms. Thanks for all the cool and neat things you post. Did anyone ever tell you that you have a flare for writing, that your writing style is a true blessing? It is. I enjoy it alot. Thanks! -- Jim Carlock Please post replies to newsgroup. Tell Microsoft you are interested in keeping 32-bit program compatibility. http://www.classicvb.org/petition "paghat" wrote: This has been a fascinating thread in its own odd way. The query seems absurd at first blush, but worms do pull decaying leafmatter partway down their tunnel in order to avoid being out where salamanders might get them at night or birds get them during the day if they were eating above ground, or where sun or drying winds might dessicate them. Small earthworms wouldn't pull anything into their tunnel large enough for us to notice, but a big nightcrawler do, & periodically a set of leaves will be spotted standing straight up on the surface of the ground, with just the stem in the ground. In some locations the worms do such a good job of pulling small leaves underground that all the fallen leaves vanish after one night of rain; it's part of how worms churn the soil & keep organic matter well-stirred into the topsoil. We tend to think of the doings of worms as 100% good. But the worm's leaf-snatching activity is not invariably a good thing. Most of the worms in our landscapes are invasive species that did not exist in North America before the arrival of Europeans, & native plants don't always cohabit with these worms successfully. In many forested areas none of these worms are found, if fishermen never introduced them, & in such truly "natural" North American wildernesses the undergrowth can be very different than what is found growing where European worms have gotten established. THere are a large number of native plants that evolved to thrive in decaying leafmatter as it accumulates on the surface of the ground, such as trilliums. Some of the worms burrow very deeply, & pull leaves & beneficial fungus lower than small plants' roots will ever reach; furthermore, by eating up all the beneficial fungus in a given area, even shrubs & trees can begin to languish, because trees & shrubs cannot process their nutrients without beneficial fungus in the soil to assist in sugar conversion, plus the beneficial fungus that worms turn to worm-castings or pull too deep into the soil are pathogen-retardants & when the healthy fungus is all eaten up or dragged too deep, the entire ecosystem of that area becomes more susceptible to disease. Furthermore, a layer of leaflitter in a forest serves as the forest's "skin," & without it invasive plant species that did not evolve for leaflittered forest floors get established & crowd out native plants. For all these reasons which begin with the introduction of alien worms, the most sensitive native plant species are dying out of some regions because of the rising population of invasive worms. Here's a fine introductory article on the bad worms can do as they remove decaying leaves & funguses from the ecosystem: http://www.wvnps.org/earthworms.html In the garden this does not necessarily apply as many of our plants come from the same regions where the worms originate & are adapted to them, & we tend to ammend soils in our gardens with manure topcoatings or other organic methods that keep the microorgism population, including beneficial fungus, very high. Even our habit of watering regularly keeps micropopulations at maximum. And folks such as myself who grow dogtooth lilies & trilliums & native ferns which evolved in heavy leaflitter uneaten by worms, we can make the extra effort to insure that autumn leaves are moved to places around these plants. But in the nearby woods the worms can be harmful. Forest ecology tends to be stable, or changes from type of forest to another over a period of centuries, unlike a dynamic garden that changes rapidly. The doings of worms in the garden fascilitates rapid growth & rapid changes, but in the wilderness the same worms hamper stability & slow change. -paghat the ratgirl -- Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government." -Thomas Jefferson |
#19
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In article , "Jim Carlock"
wrote: You write great and provide great descriptions of things. I'm going to disagree though about earth worms being the destructive force as you're describing it. 1) I know very little about earth worms. 2) There has been more devistation to forestry by man than by any other animal on the face of this planet and if compare the destruction of each, the destruction by earthworms pales in comparison. Well, compared to humanity's destruction of everything, the invasive earthworm's effects on North American forests by doing away with needed leaf-litter is comparatively slim. Humans cart away the whole forest. -paggers I don't know about leaf snatching. I know I'm seeing worms under piles of leaves though. They seem to like the moistness of the soil under the leaves. I don't think I've seen a worm in dry soil/sand. Which makes me wonder, where the heck do they come from? I'm betting the leaves, when they get on the ground together and do their humpty dumpty stuff, excrete earthworms. Thanks for all the cool and neat things you post. Did anyone ever tell you that you have a flare for writing, that your writing style is a true blessing? It is. I enjoy it alot. Thanks! -- Jim Carlock Please post replies to newsgroup. Tell Microsoft you are interested in keeping 32-bit program compatibility. http://www.classicvb.org/petition -- Get your Paghat the Ratgirl T-Shirt he http://www.paghat.com/giftshop.html "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government." -Thomas Jefferson |
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