The European worms colonizers brought are fine, they’re similar enough to the ones that used to be here.
What’s bad are the “crazy worms” which I believe come from Asia?
You can tell the difference because a normal worm just moves around like you’d expect. A “crazy worm” is like a fish out of water violently flopping around.
Those you should kill because they’re invasive.
But the worms we remember as kids are fine. Just non-native, but that’s different than evasive.
If not, just know that the person you’re asking will either ignore you or have to randomly guess what you mean.
During the last ice age, which ended roughly 10,000 years ago, a massive ice sheet covered what’s roughly the northern third of the continent. Scientists think that this most recent glaciation killed off the earthworms that may have inhabited the area.
The European worms colonizers brought are fine, they’re similar enough to the ones that used to be here.
What’s bad are the “crazy worms” which I believe come from Asia?
You can tell the difference because a normal worm just moves around like you’d expect. A “crazy worm” is like a fish out of water violently flopping around.
Those you should kill because they’re invasive.
But the worms we remember as kids are fine. Just non-native, but that’s different than evasive.
And if you didn’t read that (don’t feel too bad, neither did OP) why would I take the time to find more articles you won’t read?
How about a quiz, if you accurately find the answers that are in the article, and post the answers you found for the class, I’ll find sources for the rest.
Show me you care about learning more than arguing, and I have zero issues taking the time to help.
Don’t, and that’s cool. But I’m not here to argue, so I’ll probably just block you
no, it doesnt. it talks about worms european colonizers brought, that you claim are fine, and doesn’t mention asia or “crazy worms” anywhere, nor any of the distinguishing behavior you’re talking about.
The article and what I said is 100% accurate about the northern US and most of Canada
It’s not accurate as to the southern US or North American in general. Wherever the glaciers came they killed the earthworms, and for the most part they didn’t bounce back (for reasons that to me are not clear) until the Europeans brought European worms, but outside of glacier reach everything was fine and earthworms and forests have both been happy.
Citation is OP article + Smithsonian link + Wikipedia link posted elsewhere; they all say more or less the same thing
Crazy worms are real; it’s a whole different issue of invasive species as opposed to the issue of normal earthworms being above 45 degrees latitude in the first place.
I still think that the whole issue with crazy worms is, more or less, that they can do the exact same damage the non crazy worms can do, just a little more effectively, and so it’s sort of a side issue as you were saying. I think there’s a certain confusion between “invasive worms” meaning one or the other. But IDK, I am not a worm expert, I just learned this stuff today.
I think you literally made 100% of the first half of this up
There are no earthworms that used to be here; read the article. Crazy worms do exactly the same thing (remove the layer of leaf litter that traditional NA boreal forests depend on), they just spread a little more quickly which makes it a little more of a problem. But the essential issue is the same. And I don’t think killing either one of them makes any difference at all; humans will not encounter either one on anything even remotely similar to the scale that would make going after them on an individual level a useful thing to do.
Edit: Okay I am totally wrong; the article talks about northern forests only, and what I’m saying isn’t true of the US / North America as a whole.
“Of the 182 taxa of earthworms found in the United States and Canada, 60 (33%) are introduced species, these earthworm species are primarily from Europe and Asia.”
There are native species of earthworms in North America. Just that there are no native species at certain latitudes, because of the last ice age.
“Earthworms are shifting their ranges northwards into forests between 45° and 69° latitude in North America that have lacked native earthworms since the last ice age.”
While it may not do much to go after them on an individual level, there are ways to mitigate or slow their breeding and migration. For example they could introduce native predators that could reduce their populations.
There are no earthworms that used to be here; read the article.
Admittedly I didn’t, because I already know this.
But here you go:
During the last ice age, which ended roughly 10,000 years ago, a massive ice sheet covered what’s roughly the northern third of the continent. Scientists think that this most recent glaciation killed off the earthworms that may have inhabited the area.
The European worms colonizers brought are fine, they’re similar enough to the ones that used to be here.
What’s bad are the “crazy worms” which I believe come from Asia?
You can tell the difference because a normal worm just moves around like you’d expect. A “crazy worm” is like a fish out of water violently flopping around.
Those you should kill because they’re invasive.
But the worms we remember as kids are fine. Just non-native, but that’s different than evasive.
Can you provide a source?
If not, just know that I would have to reject your claims, seeing as how they contradict information from a reputable source.
I found this but I have no knowledge or worms or gardening
If you’re asking for a source be specific…
If not, just know that the person you’re asking will either ignore you or have to randomly guess what you mean.
There, its specific now. Provide sources
OPs article actually backs up most of that…
And if you didn’t read that (don’t feel too bad, neither did OP) why would I take the time to find more articles you won’t read?
How about a quiz, if you accurately find the answers that are in the article, and post the answers you found for the class, I’ll find sources for the rest.
Show me you care about learning more than arguing, and I have zero issues taking the time to help.
Don’t, and that’s cool. But I’m not here to argue, so I’ll probably just block you
no, it doesnt. it talks about worms european colonizers brought, that you claim are fine, and doesn’t mention asia or “crazy worms” anywhere, nor any of the distinguishing behavior you’re talking about.
Provide sources
IDK why I caused such a fighting
The article and what I said is 100% accurate about the northern US and most of Canada
It’s not accurate as to the southern US or North American in general. Wherever the glaciers came they killed the earthworms, and for the most part they didn’t bounce back (for reasons that to me are not clear) until the Europeans brought European worms, but outside of glacier reach everything was fine and earthworms and forests have both been happy.
Citation is OP article + Smithsonian link + Wikipedia link posted elsewhere; they all say more or less the same thing
I was responding to the guy talking about crazy asian worms
Crazy worms are real; it’s a whole different issue of invasive species as opposed to the issue of normal earthworms being above 45 degrees latitude in the first place.
I still think that the whole issue with crazy worms is, more or less, that they can do the exact same damage the non crazy worms can do, just a little more effectively, and so it’s sort of a side issue as you were saying. I think there’s a certain confusion between “invasive worms” meaning one or the other. But IDK, I am not a worm expert, I just learned this stuff today.
Um, please source specifically the entirety of your claims…???
What are you even talking about?!
I was trying to give you the chance to specifically ask what you wanted a source for…
Because I was trying to help you, despite your attitude.
I think you literally made 100% of the first half of this up
There are no earthworms that used to be here; read the article. Crazy worms do exactly the same thing (remove the layer of leaf litter that traditional NA boreal forests depend on), they just spread a little more quickly which makes it a little more of a problem. But the essential issue is the same. And I don’t think killing either one of them makes any difference at all; humans will not encounter either one on anything even remotely similar to the scale that would make going after them on an individual level a useful thing to do.
Edit: Okay I am totally wrong; the article talks about northern forests only, and what I’m saying isn’t true of the US / North America as a whole.
“Of the 182 taxa of earthworms found in the United States and Canada, 60 (33%) are introduced species, these earthworm species are primarily from Europe and Asia.”
There are native species of earthworms in North America. Just that there are no native species at certain latitudes, because of the last ice age.
“Earthworms are shifting their ranges northwards into forests between 45° and 69° latitude in North America that have lacked native earthworms since the last ice age.”
While it may not do much to go after them on an individual level, there are ways to mitigate or slow their breeding and migration. For example they could introduce native predators that could reduce their populations.
Thats uh…
Thats 100% false.
Admittedly I didn’t, because I already know this.
But here you go:
Only had to get to second paragraph…
Yeah I was 100% wrong about it, I read the article for some weird reason as “northern North America” = “all of North America”. My apologies.