Earthworms are fascinating creatures. They play a critical role in maintaining healthy soil by breaking down organic matter, like dead plants, branches, little pieces of wood, seed droppings, pine cones and needles, leaves, etc.
Earthworms are good at ingesting soils that contain organic material. Inside their digestive system, the soil gets broken down by enzymes and microbes in the worms gut. The nutrients and then absorbed helping the worm grow and the excess is excreted as castings-rich, crumbly material filled with nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
These castings improve soil structure, boost fertility and make nutrients more accessible to trees and other plants, who in turn produce more organic material using the energy of the sun combined with rainfall. These important tunnels made by the earthworms, allow the water to sink down deep into the earth and help recharge the aquifer that feeds our springs.
This is what we want, soils that absorb rainwater as nature intended. We don’t want hard-pan soils where there was once healthy soil. Every year when we look at the numbers we see that the acreage of healthy soil, is in decline, and hard-pan soil is increasing in acreage in our springs recharge areas.
Keeping our soils that lie within our Spring sheds healthy, will also keep our springs healthy and our waters pure. Earthworms are a very important resource to have in as much soil as possible in the spring shed of not only the Rainbow but also in the Crystal River, Homosassa and every other Spring shed.
Earthworms reproduce by rubbing against another worms skin and then secreting mucus to create a ring around them. After a few hours the worms separate, lay their compost worm eggs, and fertilize the inside of the cocoon.
The worms back out of the cocoon, and it seals itself off, leaving an oval-shaped cocoon that hardens over time to protect the young hatchlings inside. Incubation lasts about 11 weeks and the hatchlings emerge from the cocoon as tiny worms ready to eat some more organic material and start growing, to further enhance the quality of our soil in the spring shed.
Earthworms can produce one or two cocoons per week when they get big and are living in favorable conditions. Each cocoon may hatch around 2 to 15 baby worms who can grow up and start reproducing them selves in about 90 days.
Temperature can play a crucial role in the success and survival of worms. They like moist, nutrient rich soil with lots shade here in Florida. If the soil is sandy and dry it can be less conducive to worm mating and survival. Earthworms are known to sometimes live as long as 10 to 15 years before they die of old age.
It is also important to note that fertilizer can harm earthworms, and it happens in a couple of ways. The main issue is burning from excess nitrogen, especially from synthetic fertilizers. When too much fertilizer is applied it can create an imbalance in the soil making it overly acidic or salty for earthworms to survive.
Fertilizer burns earthworms, much like it can burn plants, damaging the worm’s sensitive skin and they can no longer absorb oxygen through their skin and they suffocate. Also since earthworms feed on organic matter and the soil is overloaded with synthetic fertilizers, it can disrupt the microbial balance that breaks down organic material into nutrients.
Many pesticides and herbicides are also toxic to earthworms, either directly or by disrupting their food sources. Pesticides used to kill insects may also harm the beneficial microorganisms that earthworms feed on. With less earthworms you get more soil compaction and reduced ability to retain water ultimately more hard-pan soil that can not absorb water like it used to.
It is very important for everyone to voluntarily take good care of our soil, our land. We want to see healthy earthworms in as much acreage as possible and reverse the erosion and loss of good healthy earth we have in our neighborhoods.
If you check out your yard or fields you should find healthy earthworms in abundance. If you don’t, think about why? Was fill brought in, or has it been fertilized for years? What can be done to restore the soil?
I can not overemphasize how important the tunnels that earthworms make are. It really helps water seep down deep all the way to our important aquifers. We need earthworms to build a vast network of tunnels that lets our soils breathe.
Think of the “web of life”. How all living things are interconnected and depend on each other for survival. It all starts with the soil, which is the foundation for many ecosystems. Healthy soil is full of microbes, fungi and insects, including earthworms that break down organic matter, making nutrients available for plants that provide food and shelter for animals and people.
Earthworms, for example, improve soil structure and fertility, which helps trees grow stronger producing the lumber that our houses are built with. Birds feed on seeds, worms and insects helping plants reproduce. Pollinators like bees and butterflies rely on flowering plants for nectar, and in return, they pollinate the fruits and vegetables we eat. Larger predators like hawks, otters and owls, depend on smaller animals, creating a balanced chain of life.
If one part of the “web of life” gets disrupted, it can throw off the entire system. That is why protecting the soil isn’t just about plants, it’s about saving and building healthy soils that support a rich diverse ecosystem that benefits everything from earthworms in our soil to people living on the land.
Let’s protect, save and restore the soils on our lands, especially in the spring shed and recharge zones. The more water that is able to reach and recharge our aquifers the better to help us restore and protect our springs.
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Thank you, Art Jones