Earthworm Distribution at White Memorial Foundation

Earthworm presence (red points) and abscence (yellow points) at White Memorial Foundation from 2014 survey.

We randomly selected points throughout the property to survey earthworms.  Each point consisted of a total of three 0.25 square meter quadrats with mustard extraction, sampling occurred from late-July to late-September, 2014.  Earthworms are widely dispersed throughout the property.  A couple regions that are noteworthy include the Cathedrals region, which is located south of Cranberry Pond, had few earthworms while the Museum vicinity, located north of Bantam Lake, have abundant earthworm populations.  The factors that could influence the presence of earthworms need further exploration but some appear to be more important than others including soil pH, previous land use practices, and the likelihood of introduction by fisherman, illegal refuse dumping, and proximity to neighboring homes.  It is important to note that we only used one earthworm detection method and this could bias our sampling of populations with very few individuals or species that live deeply below the soil surface where mustard juice could not penetrate effectively.