earthworm 101, with great lakes worm watch

First, some background: Great Lakes Worm Watch is a citizen-science outreach organization, working to map the state of the earthworms—and the habitats they’re living in.

“We want to know where earthworms are across the landscape,” says Ryan—and that means even beyond the Great Lakes area, where the project began.  (There is a Canada Worm Watch, too, for those across the border; researchers at the University of Vermont, at the Cary Institute in Millbrook, New York, and elsewhere are likewise studying earthworm invasion.)

Individuals, schools or garden groups can sign on help collect data on what worms are found when and where. That last bit—the habitat, or “where” aspect–is key, because earthworms are neither good nor bad. The role they play, and whether it’s helpful or harmful, depends on the environment they make their way into.

ROUGHLY SPEAKING, there are two different classes of ecosystems, Ryan explained in our chat:

In manmade environments, such as farms and gardens, worms have proven to be helpful as soil-aerators and as detritivores, super-efficient recyclers who break down organic material and return it to the loosened-up soil.

Natural habitats, such as the hardwood forests of the Northeast and upper Midwest, were historically earthworm-free by design—meaning no native