Recent studies have shown that invasive earthworms can dramatically reduce native biodiversity, both above and below the ground. However, we still lack a synthetic understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind these changes, such as whether earthworm effects on soil chemical properties drive such relationships. Here, we investigated the effects of invasive earthworms on soil chemical properties (pH, water content, and the stocks and fluxes of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) by conducting a meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analysis. Invasive earthworms generally increased soil pH, indicating that the removal of organic layers and the upward transport of more base\uffe2\uff80\uff90rich mineral soil caused a shift in soil pH. Moreover, earthworms significantly decreased soil water content, suggesting that the burrowing activities of earthworms may have increased water infiltration of and/or increased evapotranspiration from soil. Notably, invasive earthworms had opposing effects on organic and mineral soil for carbon and nitrogen stocks, with decreases in organic, and increases in mineral soil. Nitrogen fluxes were higher in mineral soil, whereas fluxes in organic soil were not significantly affected by the presence of invasive earthworms, indicating that earthworms mobilize and redistribute nutrients among soil layers and increase overall nitrogen loss from the soil. Invasive earthworm effects on element stocks increased with ecological group richness only in organic soil. Earthworms further decreased ammonium stocks with negligible effects on nitrate stocks in organic soil, whereas they increased nitrate stocks but not ammonium stocks in mineral soil. Notably, all of these results were consistent across forest and grassland ecosystems underlining the generality of our findings. However, we found some significant differences between studies that were conducted in the field (observational and experimental settings) and in the lab, such as that the effects on soil pH decreased from field to lab settings, calling for a careful interpretation of lab findings. Our meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analysis provides strong empirical evidence that earthworm invasion may lead to substantial changes in soil chemical properties and element cycling in soil. Furthermore, our results can help explain the dramatic effects of invasive earthworms on native biodiversity, for example, shifts towards the dominance of grass species over herbaceous ones, as shown by recent meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analyses.
", "keywords": ["Element flux", "Nitrogen", "Earthworm ecological group", "Forests", "Nitrate", "exotic earthworms", "Nutrient cycling", "nitrogen", "Article", "earthworm ecological group", "Soil", "nitrate", "Animals", "phosphorus", "soil carbon", "Oligochaeta", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "water content", "Exotic earthworms", "2. Zero hunger", "Water content", "Plan_S-Compliant-TA", "pH", "nutrient cycling", "Phosphorus", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Nitrification", "Soil carbon", "nitrification", "ammonium", "13. Climate action", "international", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "element flux", "Ammonium"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.2936"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2936"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/ecy.2936", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/ecy.2936", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/ecy.2936"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-01-08T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.08.009", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:15:43Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-09-18", "title": "Changes in the genetic structure of an invasive earthworm species (Lumbricus terrestris, Lumbricidae) along an urban \u2013 rural gradient in North America", "description": "European earthworms were introduced to North America by European settlers about 400 years ago. Human-mediated introductions significantly contributed to the spread of European species, which commonly are used as fishing bait and are often disposed deliberately in the wild. We investigated the genetic structure of Lumbricus terrestris in a 100 km range south of Calgary, Canada, an area that likely was devoid of this species two decades ago. Genetic relationships among populations, gene flow, and migration events among populations were investigated using seven microsatellite markers and the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene. Earthworms were collected at different distances from the city and included fishing baits from three different bait distributors. The results suggest that field populations in Alberta established rather recently and that bait and field individuals in the study area have a common origin. Genetic variance within populations decreased outside of the urban area, and the most distant populations likely originated from a single introduction event. The results emphasise the utility of molecular tools to understand the spatial extent and connectivity of populations of exotic species, in particular soil-delling species, that invade native ecosystems and to obtain information on the origin of populations. Such information is crucial for developing management and prevention strategies to limit and control establishment of non-native earthworms in North America.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "0301 basic medicine", "570", "03 medical and health sciences", "Ecology", " evolutionary biology", "11. Sustainability", "15. Life on land", "Microsatellites", " Exotic earthworms", " Invasion", " Gene flow", " Dispersal", " Population structure", " Soil", "01 natural sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.08.009"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Applied%20Soil%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.08.009", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.08.009", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.08.009"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-11-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/12-1760.1", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:19:33Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-07-09", "title": "Earthworm Effects On The Incorporation Of Litter C And N Into Soil Organic Matter In A Sugar Maple Forest", "description": "To examine the mechanisms of earthworm effects on forest soil C and N, we double\uffe2\uff80\uff90labeled leaf litter with13C and15N, applied it to sugar maple forest plots with and without earthworms, and traced isotopes into soil pools. The experimental design included forest plots with different earthworm community composition (dominated byLumbricus terrestrisorL. rubellus). Soil carbon pools were 37% lower in earthworm\uffe2\uff80\uff90invaded plots largely because of the elimination of the forest floor horizons, and mineral soil C:N was lower in earthworm plots despite the mixing of high C:N organic matter into soil by earthworms. Litter disappearance over the first winter\uffe2\uff80\uff93spring was highest in theL. terrestris(T) plots, but during the warm season, rapid loss of litter was observed in bothL. rubellus(R) and T plots. After two years, 22.0% \uffc2\uffb1 5.4% of13C released from litter was recovered in soil with no significant differences among plots. Total recovery of added13C (decaying litter plus soil) was much higher in no\uffe2\uff80\uff90worm (NW) plots (61\uffe2\uff80\uff9368%) than in R and T plots (20\uffe2\uff80\uff9329%) as much of the litter remained in the former whereas it had disappeared in the latter. Much higher percentage recovery of15N than13C was observed, with significantly lower values for T than R and NW plots. Higher overwinter earthworm activity in T plots contributed to lower soil N recovery. In earthworm\uffe2\uff80\uff90invaded plots isotope enrichment was highest in macroaggregates and microaggregates whereas in NW plots silt plus clay fractions were most enriched. The net effect of litter mixing and priming of recalcitrant soil organic matter (SOM), stabilization of SOM in soil aggregates, and alteration of the soil microbial community by earthworm activity results in loss of SOM and lowering of the C:N ratio. We suggest that earthworm stoichiometry plays a fundamental role in regulating C and N dynamics of forest SOM.
", "keywords": ["Time Factors", "Nitrogen", "TEMPERATE HARDWOOD FOREST", "New York", "Acer", "C:N ratio", "Trees", "OLD-GROWTH FOREST", "Soil", "litter", "EXOTIC EARTHWORMS", "Animals", "NORTHEASTERN FORESTS", "Oligochaeta", "CARBON DYNAMICS", "Ecosystem", "2. Zero hunger", "decomposition", "NITROGEN DEPOSITION", "Ecology", "Lumbricus", "MICROBIAL BIOMASS", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "DECIDUOUS FOREST", "Carbon", "stoichiometry", "aggregate", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "LUMBRICUS-TERRESTRIS", "Environmental Sciences", "CENTRAL NEW-YORK", "Environmental Monitoring"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/12-1760.1"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecological%20Applications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/12-1760.1", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/12-1760.1", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/12-1760.1"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-07-01T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Exotic+earthworms&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Exotic+earthworms&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Exotic+earthworms&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "last", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (last)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Exotic+earthworms&offset=3", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 3, "numberReturned": 3, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-05-24T23:12:00.633104Z"}