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Two Lumbricus festivus earthworms on a hand

Lumbricus festivus from an allotment in Lymington, note the prominent male pore between the saddle and the head.

23 Dec

Going on a (festive) worm hunt: Lumbricus festivus the Ruddy Worm

VJBurton General 0 Comment(s)

I came across the earthworm species Lumbricus festivus while sampling an allotment as part of my PhD recently and it was remarked how appropriate the name was for this time of year, so I thought I would profile it on the Earthworm Watch blog.

Lumbricus festivus is one of the less well known earthworm species in the UK and less common earthworm species, with less than 100 records in the National Earthworm Recording Scheme, although this is probably due to under-recording rather than true rarity.

British Ecological Society Annual Meeting 2016

British Ecological Society Annual Meeting t-shirt and programme

22 Dec

Earthworm Watch at the British Ecological Society Annual Meeting

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If a scientist does research and doesn’t tell anyone about it, have they done research at all?

05 Dec

Earthworm Watch Celebrates World Soil Day

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Today is World Soil Day – an important annual occasion aimed at raising awareness of the critical role that soils play in our lives. Soils are important for everyone, as almost everything we need to survive is dependent on them. If you think about the clothes on your back, the food that you eat, the air that you breathe or the water that you drink, essentially it can be traced back to the soil.

15 Nov

Earthworm Watch at Super Science Saturday, Oxford University Museum of Natural History

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Investigate, experiment and learn more about science in the news!

On Saturday 26th November, Earthworm Watch will take part in Super Science Saturday, an event hosted by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The museum is one of the most historically and scientifically important and beautiful natural history museums in the world. The event will allow the opportunity for visitors of all ages to learn about important scientific research reported in the news, including meeting some of the scientists behind that research.

08 Nov

Soil carbon and earthworms: Latest results from Dr. Alan Jones, Science Research Manager

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Dr. Alan Jones, our Research Manager at Earthwatch Institute has been analysing the results of our soil carbon analysis following our spring Earthworm Watch campaign. We can now have a first look at the relationship between earthworm numbers and our soil colour chart which indicates soil carbon content. From the start of Earthworm Watch, one of our aims was to try to understand how soil carbon content might influence earthworm numbers.