Earthworms: Now eating live plants and seeds near you!

Posted on 22. May, 2010 by Tracey in Veg Plot

Look at this earthworm, it may be slimy, long and good for the soil however it has revealed one of its hidden secrets to scientists this week.

Scientists from Georg-August-University Göttingen in Germany have discovered that earthworms are in fact predators of living as well as dead plants. Their particular favourites are legume seeds and seedlings as they have high levels of nitrogen so if your bean seedlings don’t germinate in the ground, earthworms can now be added to the list of culprits.

Previous studies have also shown earthworms eat seeds and take them to their burrows. Earthworms seek out seedlings that germinate slowly and are nitrogen rich and ingest them which slowly kills the plant leaving them susceptible to other pest and disease attacks.

The advantages of this new discovery is that farmers can attract earthworms to their soil by sowing certain seeds and the disadvantage is in some locations earthworms could destroy plant life.

For more information on Earthworms, please click on the following links:

• Beneficial Insects and Invertebrate in the Vegetable Garden
• Earthworm Identification Guide by OPAL
• The Earthworm Society of Britain
• Join the BBC Spring Watch Team and The Natural History Museum at the London Bioblitz, 5th June 2010 at London Alexandra Palace or Follow them on Twitter @BioBlitzUK

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Tags: earthworms eat bean seedlings, earthworms eat seeds, earthworms eating seedlings, earthworms nitrogen scientists, earthworms pests, growing vegetables and earthworms