Mustard Soil Sampling for Earthworms

Earthworm populations can be sampled from soil with mustard. The mustard draws Lumbricus terrestris earthworms up from deeper soil layers. This method lets scientists collect data without disturbing the landscape or using toxic chemicals.

After sampling, the earthworms are counted. The counts can...

The monitoring of earthworm populations is vital to environmental scientists, as invasive exotic earthworms can be found in nearly every ecosystem on the planet. Ecological invasion typically lowers biodiversity of an ecosystem by directly outcompeting, endangering, or contributing to the extirpation, or local extinction, of native species.