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An Invasive Species from Western Europe and Its Effective BioEngineering!
This photo was captured on the date of October 6th 2022 in the city of Lisle IL. The photo was taken in between the buildings of Brick and Kindlon, on the main campus of Benedictine University. This photo is presenting a fairly common site in nature, especially in days of much precipitation, such as when this photo was taken. This image shows a species of Earthworms in the Lumbricus genus and more broadly known to be in the family Lumbricide. Many people however, might know it by its more common name, which is Earthworms. Due to the fact that there are many species of Earthworms, it was very difficult to pinpoint a species. As a result, this earthworm will be referred to as the Lumbricus species (spp.). Something that is not known about the Lumbricus species is that these earthworms are not native to the United States, but rather came due to human introduction from Western Europe in the 17th century and have since become naturalized to soil, making them an invasive species. It also should be known that these earthworms managed to adapt so well to the soil, that it managed to out-compete the native earthworms. Therefore, affecting the niche of an ecosystem and in essence, this is the reason why they are known to be very effective bioengineers of an ecosystem. Besides outcompeting with the native earthworms, the Lumbricus species demonstrates intraspecific competition. The Lumbricus species are also known to be consumers of detritus (which is simply dead organic matter) and thereby produce soils, which tend to be rich in nitrogen, making them good fertilizers. Hence this is why many gardeners and farmers recommend that instead of throwing away your food as trash, you can put in the soil for the worms to decompose it. However, it is precisely this reason that these earthworms are known to be effective bioengineers as they can influence which primary producers (most often plants) come into the ecosystem. Due to the impact of vegetation in the area, they can impact interspecific competition by being prey to many surrounding predators in the surrounding vegetation.
An Invasive Species from Western Europe and Its Effective BioEngineering!
This photo was captured on the date of October 6th 2022 in the city of Lisle IL. The photo was taken in between the buildings of Brick and Kindlon, on the main campus of Benedictine University. This photo is presenting a fairly common site in nature, especially in days of much precipitation, such as when this photo was taken. This image shows a species of Earthworms in the Lumbricus genus and more broadly known to be in the family Lumbricide. Many people however, might know it by its more common name, which is Earthworms. Due to the fact that there are many species of Earthworms, it was very difficult to pinpoint a species. As a result, this earthworm will be referred to as the Lumbricus species (spp.). Something that is not known about the Lumbricus species is that these earthworms are not native to the United States, but rather came due to human introduction from Western Europe in the 17th century and have since become naturalized to soil, making them an invasive species. It also should be known that these earthworms managed to adapt so well to the soil, that it managed to out-compete the native earthworms. Therefore, affecting the niche of an ecosystem and in essence, this is the reason why they are known to be very effective bioengineers of an ecosystem. Besides outcompeting with the native earthworms, the Lumbricus species demonstrates intraspecific competition. The Lumbricus species are also known to be consumers of detritus (which is simply dead organic matter) and thereby produce soils, which tend to be rich in nitrogen, making them good fertilizers. Hence this is why many gardeners and farmers recommend that instead of throwing away your food as trash, you can put in the soil for the worms to decompose it. However, it is precisely this reason that these earthworms are known to be effective bioengineers as they can influence which primary producers (most often plants) come into the ecosystem. Due to the impact of vegetation in the area, they can impact interspecific competition by being prey to many surrounding predators in the surrounding vegetation.