Invasive Earthworms of North America (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Invasive species of earthworms, specifically from the suborder Lumbricina, are migrating and spreading through North America. Their introduction is having drastic affects on the multiple nutrient cycles in temperate or temperate/coniferous forests. These earthworms increase the cycling and leaching of nutrients by breaking up decaying organic matter and spreading it into the soil. Since these northern forests rely on thick layers of decaying organic matter for growth and nutrition, they are diminishing in diversity and young plants struggle in these environments. Many species of trees and other plants may be incapable of surviving such drastic changes in available nutrients. This change in the plant diversity directly affects the other organisms of the environment and often leads to increased invasions of other exotic species as well as overall temperate forest decline.