Wamogo High School A. P. Environmental Science Class investigates relationship between invasive plants and earthworms, Part 1.

Wamogo's Environmental Science Class has been sampling earthworms at White Memorial exploring relationships between invasive plants and introduced earthworm species.  The class has sampled worms in Autumn Olive, Japanese Knotweed, Japanese Barberry, and Goutweed incursions.  The stuedents collected a total of 90 0.25 square-meter quadrats, ranging from 0 to as many as 40 earthworms per quadrat (Chart 1).  The students also recorded the body measurements of each worm.  Body measurements of 340 earthworms ranged from 15 mm to 155 mm, averaging 56.8 mm (Chart 2).  The students are utilizing a pair-wise comparison by sampling quadrats in invasive plants versus non-invaded sites located near the incursion.  Future analysis will be presented here so check back to learn what the students observe.

Chart 1:  Frequency distribution of earthworms sampled in quadrats by Wamogo's Environmental Science Students.

Chart 2:  Frequency distribution of earthworm body measurements sampled by Wamogo's Environmental Science Students.