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Earthworms are environmental indicators of soil health. Earthworms feed on the decaying matter in the soil and analyzing the contents of their digestive tracts gives insight into the overall condition of the soil. The earthworm gut accumulates chemicals, including heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, zinc, and copper. The population size of ...
Detritivores play an important role as recyclers in the ecosystem's energy flow and biogeochemical cycles. [7] Alongside decomposers, they reintroduce vital elements such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and potassium back into the soil, allowing plants to take in these elements and use them for growth. [ 2 ]
Earthworms are oligochaetes that support terrestrial food chains both as prey and in some regions are important in aeration and enriching of soil. The burrowing of marine polychaetes, which may constitute up to a third of all species in near-shore environments, encourages the development of ecosystems by enabling water and oxygen to penetrate ...
Megascolecidae form an important part of the soil ecosystem, in that they indicate soil health and maintain soil productivity. The abundance of earthworms is highly correlated to soil pH, texture, water content, and temperature. [26] Earthworms have the ability to biomonitor soil pollutants. [27]
Hence, "helminthology" is the study of parasitic worms. When a human or an animal, such as a dog or horse, is said to "have worms", it means that it is infested with parasitic worms, typically roundworms or tapeworms. Deworming is a method to kill off the worms that have infected a human or animal by giving anthelmintic drugs.
Following a heavy rain, there is often some noticeable changes to your surroundings, whether it’s a peculiar smell in the air or a change in temperature.
However, 'earthworm' can be a source of confusion since, in most of the world, other species are more typical. For example, through much of the unirrigated temperate areas of the world, the "common earthworm" is actually Aporrectodea (=Allolobophora) trapezoides, which in those areas is a similar size and dark colour to L. terrestris.
These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles (such as snakes), and species of burrowing mammals like gophers, moles and prairie dogs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics.