Earthworm Ecology, Second Edition updates the most comprehensive work available on earthworm ecology with extensive revisions of the original chapters. New chapters analyze the history of earthworm research, the importance of earthworms as representatives of soil fauna and how they affect plant growth, the effects of the invasion of exotic earthworms into North America and other regions, and vermiculture and vermicomposting in Europe.This well-illustrated, expansive study examines the important and often overlooked impact earthworms have on the environment. It discusses the impact of climate, soil properties, predation, disease and parasitism, and competition upon earthworm ecology.
Earthworms and their environment; The physical environment; Phenology; Populations and association; Ecological energetics; Predators, parasites and pathogens; Dispersal; Altitudinal zonation; Physical effects on soils; chemical effects on soils; Earthworms and pedogenesis; Earthworms and plant growth; Earthworms and land use practices; Use of earthworms for waste disposal; Earthworms; as a protein source.