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Soil Health | Soil Microbiota | Agriculture

The Importance of Earthworms in Soil Ecosystems

Why earthworms are known as ecosystem engineers due to their unique abilities

Shrish Tariq
Sharing Science
Published in
5 min readJul 30, 2021

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Image by Lynn Betts on flicker

Soil is home to a variety of organisms. It includes microbial communities (fungi, bacteria), worm-like organisms (nematodes), and terrestrial invertebrates (earthworm). Collectively, these organisms maintain soil health and play their role autonomously. Soil physical properties also rely on the activities of its inhabitants. These communities also determine the production potential of the agriculture system. Such as soil microbial communities accumulate beneficial microbes at plant rhizosphere. In addition to these microbial communities, there are terrestrial invertebrates — Earthworms.

Earthworms positively affect the soil processes. They play a vital role in soil health and its natural ecosystem. Earthworms also play a significant role in the reshaping of soil structure and nutrient cycle. They are also able to the decomposition of litter. That’s why earthworms are known as ecosystem engineers.

Earthworms are the savior of soil health due to their unique abilities. They perform nitrogen mineralization and water infiltration due to their burrowing and feeding habits. Besides these…

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Sharing Science
Sharing Science

Published in Sharing Science

Observations and analysis from scientists on biology, health, and how we live and interact with our natural world.

Shrish Tariq
Shrish Tariq

Written by Shrish Tariq

Plant Pathologist and curious about plant-microbe interactions. Reader| Writer| Researcher

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