nsf.gov - Special Report - Science Nation: "Invasion of the Earthworms!
Non-native earthworms are damaging hardwood forests
Think of earthworms and a few things come to mind: they make great bait for fishing, they aerate the soil, and they're an excellent addition to a compost pile. But what a lot of people don't know is many earthworms are actually invasive species.
"The western Great Lakes region, which is the area we're focused on, has no native earthworms," says ecologist Cindy Hale, a research associate with the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota in Duluth.
Native earthworms in the region were all wiped out after the last Ice Age. The current population was brought by Europeans hundreds of years ago, (soil was often used as ballast in ships) and they’re now changing the face of local forests. Anglers are adding to the problem by dumping worms that don't end up on the end of a hook."
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