An earthworm species rarely seen outside the Aquitaine region of southwestern France is thriving more than 600 miles to the north, across the sea in Ireland, a new study reports.
The earthworm’s new habitat, on an urban farm in Dublin, may have been made possible by rising soil temperatures caused by climate change, said Olaf Schmidt, a biologist at University College Dublin and an author of the study.
“What is really interesting about these worms is that there are about 25 species restricted to a small area in the southwest of France,” he said. “None have moved outside this area, and suddenly we found them in a routine survey of farms in Dublin.”
The worm’s introduction to Ireland was probably a result of human activity; it may have arrived with garden plants being imported to Ireland. Though a newcomer to the island, the worm species, Prosellodrilus amplisetosus, does not appear to be invasive, and is happily coexisting with the 30 other earthworm species already found in Ireland, Dr. Schmidt said.
“This new worm eats a different carbon and nitrogen fraction in the soil,” he said. “In fact, it could be that they will contribute to the maintenance of the soil structure and nutrients. We will have to see.”Continue reading the main story
The mean yearly temperature in Aquitaine is about five degrees higher than that in Dublin. But globally, temperatures are rising.
“It’s very tempting to speculate that they only survive here now because of an increase on average of temperatures,” Dr. Schmidt said.