permaculture

["Kelly Lockamy" <garden_muse@bellsouth.net>]

Greetings from coastal GA,
this premise goes against everything I've ever known about earthworms and
their beneficial effects as well as their role in ecosystems.  I can't
imagine there being enough earthworms in any given forest to de-litter the
floor.  their castings may indeed alter the pH balance, but they also fix
nutrients that would otherwise leach out of the soil more quickly.... but
since I'm sure we all can recite the benefits we've come to believe
earthworms to bestow, I'd like to tackle this from another perspective.
succession:  invasive plants only become invasive when all requirements are
met, nutrient, water and light being the most important.  I find it hard to
believe a slight change in pH balance could alter a mature forest to warrant
an alarming report about threats from earthworms.  I postulate that any
damage observed is from other environmental stresses, and the correlation
between earthworm population and tree health can't necessarily be linked so
strongly.  I look forward to other comments on the subject as I've always
been a worm advocate!

Kelly


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey Newman" <jn@jnweb.com>
To: "permaculture digest" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 8:12 PM
Subject: [permaculture] Earthworms in the N American Forest


>
> I came across an article describing the damage earthworms do to the
> indigenous North American forest.
>
> I've posted info. and a link on my blog at
> http://jnblog.typepad.com/provocations/2004/08/foreign_earthwo.html
>
> I'd welcome a little informed comment there and/or here.
>
> -  Jeffrey Newman
> 108 Mile Ranch, BC, Canada
>
> --
> Jeffrey Newman
>
> JN Web Design
> http://www.jnweb.com/
>
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