Wildlife

Earthworms rob forests of key nutrients; pave way for other invaders

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By Chris Symons

Compost box heroes, or the root of all ecological evil? Worms in Great Lakes forests are not what they seem. Trilliums are smaller, algal blooms are more common and hummingbird populations are decreasing. All of these are made worse by non-native earthworms in Great Lakes soil. A recent study in Ecosystems journal identified four key minerals that earthworms remove from soil and that native plants need to grow.

Land

When fire changes the landscape

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Two years after the Duck Lake fire swept through 21,000 acres in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, experts this spring will assess the need for new plantings to restore the primarily jack pine forest.

Land

Photo Friday: The Manistique River’s slab wood islands

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Have an environmental image you’ve taken somewhere within the Great Lakes region and that you’d like to submit for Echo’s Photo Friday series? Send it to greatlakesecho@gmail.com along with the photographer’s name and town of residence, approximate date it was taken, where it was taken and a little bit of description of what we’re looking at. Context – how you happened to take it or whether there were physical or technical challenges in capturing it – is also helpful.