Karlsruhe/Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) - Experts want to know more about how the earthworms in the southwest are faring in view of climate change. In some regions, the population of moisture-loving animals has collapsed, Minister of Agriculture Peter Hauk (CDU) made clear on the occasion of Earthworm Day this Wednesday (February 15). Earthworms made an important contribution to the quality and productivity of the soil.
For this reason, experts from the Augustenberg Agricultural Technology Center based in Karlsruhe, among others, are to investigate which earthworm species occur in what density and quantity on agricultural land. "We want to know how many earthworm species there are in Baden-Württemberg and where they occur. Which species feel comfortable on agricultural land and which management methods we can use to promote them," explained Hauk on Tuesday in Stuttgart.
As a result of the drought years of 2015 and 2018, the populations of some species plummeted, explained Christian Bluhm, a scientist at the Forestry Research and Testing Institute in Baden-Württemberg. But there are too few long-term studies for serious statements.
In the course of a project, it was looked at how extra lime in the soil and the waiver of cultivation affected the animals: "The earthworms reacted to the liming by tripling their number and species diversity, while we could not determine any impact from a waiver of cultivation."
Earthworms played a key role in breaking down dead plant debris, the expert explained. "They tirelessly eat their way through their habitat and, with the formation of their tunnel systems, also contribute to improving the drainage and aeration properties of the soil," said Bluhm, according to the statement. "In soil rich in earthworms there is probably not a crumb of soil that has not already passed through a worm gut several times."
