Ep. 263 - Earthworm Invaders
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2020
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week we are joined by director of The University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology, Dr. Lee Frelich to discuss an invasive species problem that threatens plant diversity and ecosystem functioning wherever it occurs. Earthworms are very powerful ecosystem engineers. They alter the entire structure of the soil, affecting everything that grows there. Invasive worms are changing entire ecosystems from the bottom up and it is largely going on out of sight and out of mind. Join us for an enlightening discussion about this issue. This episode was produced in part by Sara, Kenned, Vaibhav, Kendall, Christina, Brett, Jocelyn, Kathleen, Ethan, Kaylee, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Donica, Chris, Shamora, Alana, Laura, Alice, Sarah, Rachel, Joanna, Griff, Philip, Paul, Matthew, Clark, Bobby, Kate, Steven, Brittney, McMansion Hell, Joey, Catherine, Brandon, Hall, Vegreville Creek and Wetlands Fund, Kevin, Oliver, John, Johansson, Christina, Jared, Hannah, Katy Pye, Brandon, Gwen, Carly, Stephen, Botanical Tours, Moonwort Studios, Liba, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, doeg, Clifton, Stephanie, Benjamin, Eli, Rachael, Plant By Design, Philip, Brent, Ron, Tim, Homestead Brooklyn, Brodie, Kevin, Sophia, Mark, Rens, Bendix, Irene, Holly, Caitlin, Manuel, Jennifer, Sara, and Margie.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Would you like more In Defensive Plants each month? |
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| 0:16.7 | And as always, thank you for your continued support of Inefensive Plants. |
| 0:20.3 | Together, we are helping cure plant blindness around the world one episode at a time. |
| 0:26.5 | Hello everyone and welcome to the In Defensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of |
| 0:30.8 | IndefensivePlants.com. |
| 0:32.3 | What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How's everyone doing this week? |
| 0:35.8 | You hanging in there? You staying healthy. I sure |
| 0:38.3 | hope so. Today's topic is something that I feel deserves far more attention than it normally gets. |
| 0:43.9 | And I think in big part it's due to the fact that the organisms involved have the best PR department you could possibly have. |
| 0:50.9 | Joining us today is Dr. Lee Freilich, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology, |
| 0:56.4 | and we are discussing earthworm invasions. |
| 0:59.7 | That's right, earthworms are not native to a lot of places that they're currently occupying, |
| 1:04.6 | and they are wreaking havoc on ecosystems. |
| 1:08.5 | I'll let Dr. Freelich detail all of the ways that worms can be harmful, but |
| 1:12.0 | just know that if you live in an area that was once glaciated, worms were wiped out. |
| 1:17.4 | And all of the worms that you see in the soil now, at least the earthworm types, are invasive |
| 1:21.5 | species. And this is really important for biodiversity, especially when it comes to native |
| 1:26.1 | plants. So I don't want to |
... |
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