NEWS On Tuesday 25 August, The Guardian, had a feature about how earthworms change the Arctic and the research of our Arcum affiliated Professor Jonatan Klaminder.
The article describes how humble earthworms, the gardener's best friend who fights for productive soil, can be a threat to Arctic nature as earthworms make the Arctic soil too fertile.
Earthworms move around up tp 10 meters in a year, but with human help, they have spread to remote areas in the Arctic. Usually the top layer of soil has a surface of poorly decomposed material, but the article describes that this layer has disappeared in some Arctic areas and it is believed that this is due to people bringing earthworms to their settlements. The earthworm is now found in the Arctic soil in areas in North America, the Nordic countries and Russia.
The article describes experiments that Jonathan and his colleagues carried out at the Abisko research station and earthworms, and also tells about the investigations that the researchers did in northern Sweden at Sami gathering location for reindeers.
Original article in The Guardian
Research article on the introduction of earthworms in the Arctic (2017)
Research article on the impact of earthworms in the Arctic (2020)
