Earthworms are widely regarded to be of great ecological importance, contributing to a suite of ecosystem services including waste recycling and detoxification, carbon and nutrient regulation, water flow regulation, and soil structure maintenance.
Despite their importance within agricultural systems, the use of heavy machines, intensive tillage and wide use of pesticides have contributed to drastically reduced earthworm populations.
As a soil-first project, establishing a baseline for earthworms was of high importance. The Biological Recording Company helped us to develop this baseline, and with the help of volunteers, the team gathered earthworm samples across the site and control fields in 2023 and 2024.
Earthworm abundance and species diversity was relatively low across the site in comparison to our positive control field. Long-term monitoring will reveal how our changing management practices influence earthworm populations on site.
To read our earthworm survey reports from the first two years: Earthworms 2023 and Earthworms 2024
