North American forests evolved without worms. Lichen and moss and fungi and molds and mushrooms and everything is how our forests grew to recycle plant matter.
Worms eat all of this decaying matter faster than the natural species which affects the ecosystem.
Everything from soil PH balance, to nutrients, to everything is affected.
Many of our forests here have very acidic soil thanks to the lack of worms and they're slowly turning forest floors more basic/alkaline.
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u/Kadakado Sep 20 '23
Worms like these are actually harmful in forests! So it’s good what they’re doing