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Researchers Build a Case for Earthworm's Slimy Reputation (Earthworms: The Silent Killers)
New York Times ^
| October 28, 2003
| ANNE MINARD
Posted on 10/28/2003 6:57:47 AM PST by presidio9
click here to read article
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To: presidio9
Very interesting article. I had been thinking about introducing earthworms into my garden...don't think I will now.
To: cogitator
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."
22
posted on
10/28/2003 8:05:33 AM PST
by
presidio9
(Countdown to 27 World Championships...)
To: Bad Dog2
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.
23
posted on
10/28/2003 8:06:03 AM PST
by
Williams
To: berkeleybeej
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.
24
posted on
10/28/2003 8:07:16 AM PST
by
presidio9
(Countdown to 27 World Championships...)
To: presidio9
worms should begin arriving in your backyard any momentLOL
To: presidio9; AAABEST; Ace2U; Alamo-Girl; Alas; amom; AndreaZingg; Anonymous2; ApesForEvolution; ...
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
26
posted on
10/28/2003 8:13:07 AM PST
by
farmfriend
( Isaiah 55:10,11)
To: farmfriend
Oklahoma Agriculture Bump
27
posted on
10/28/2003 8:15:34 AM PST
by
E.G.C.
To: presidio9
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.
To: cogitator
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.
29
posted on
10/28/2003 8:21:39 AM PST
by
presidio9
(gungagalunga)
To: <1/1,000,000th%; Aric2000; balrog666; BMCDA; CobaltBlue; Condorman; Dimensio; Doctor Stochastic; ...
Earthworm ping. This is all Darwin's fault. He started the viscious, atheistic belief that earthworms are good.
30
posted on
10/28/2003 8:29:03 AM PST
by
js1138
To: presidio9
I don't care what the scientists say, I ain't stickin' the little buggers on my fish-hook.
To: Tijeras_Slim
A great conservative movie.
32
posted on
10/28/2003 8:33:51 AM PST
by
Tribune7
(It's not like he let his secretary drown in his car or something.)
To: js1138
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.
33
posted on
10/28/2003 8:38:23 AM PST
by
presidio9
(gungagalunga)
To: js1138
Death from below...
34
posted on
10/28/2003 8:39:47 AM PST
by
general_re
("I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.")
To: presidio9
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.
To: general_re
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?)
36
posted on
10/28/2003 8:45:18 AM PST
by
js1138
To: Tijeras_Slim
Another worm victim sees the frying pan
To: js1138
I've noticed a difference as well. They appear to be...evolving...
38
posted on
10/28/2003 8:57:39 AM PST
by
general_re
("I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.")
To: presidio9
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.)
39
posted on
10/28/2003 9:07:27 AM PST
by
tsomer
To: berkeleybeej
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.
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