Earthworms are found in almost every soil throughout the world, where they effectively plough, mix and aerate the upper soil by tunnelling through it as they eat, thus making it a better habitat for plants and also the many micro-organisms that live there.
They are also the primary consumers in many food chains.
Earthworms need damp conditions to survive and they are also cold-blooded, so if the soil becomes very hard, very dry, very wet, or very cold, they will die.
It has been estimated that if all the earthworms in an acre of healthy soil were extracted and laid on the top, they would make a layer more than two inches thick.
Anne Evans
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