>>The discussion on exotic worms has been interesting. So what can be done, if anything, from a management standpoint where situations exist as you describe? Randy Rowe, Wooster Randy,  At this point in time we cannot get rid of worms.  They have found some areas where there over 200 worms in a square meter of soil, so removing them is not something you can do by hand.  There is some research going on that looks at different mixtures that might deter the worms.   Even if they do come up something, it is going to be hard to control worms in a large forest.  We need to learn to work with worms.  First off we need to determine whether we have them in the woods we want to manage and how bad they are.  This is going to help us make better management decisions.  Second, we need to understand that if you have a bad infestation, there is going to be very limited regeneration of native plants and invasive species are going to flourish.  Getting rid of deer in such an area is never going to bring the forest back to what it was, or even close.  You are just not going to see much native plant regeneration.  You will probably see invasive species and a few worm tolerant plants like ash and poison ivy.  If you get rid of invasives in that kind of an area, they are often replaced by more invasives.  We need to understand this ahead of time and plan for it.  If you are a park system with limited money and resources you may be better off managing an area without a worm problem.  It will be a lot cheaper and you are going to get better results. I think the key right now is looking for native plants to plant in areas with worms.  We need plants that are going to be good wildlife food and cover, that will tolerate worms, and will regenerate on their own and spread.  At my house there is a worm problem.  One plant I noticed that is thriving is jewelweed (Impatiens spp.).  There are dense stands of it.  It is great for hummingbirds in the fall when flowering.  It does however create a monoculture and monocultures are not great for wildlife.  It is also a preferred deer browse.  If you have a lot of deer it probably is not going to do well.  It is also not going to provide nesting habitat.  However combining this in an area with a lower deer population with other native species may work.  Below is a list of plants that do well with worms, it is taken off the Great Lakes Wormwatch site.  It is not a large list.  We need to add to it so we have a lot more native plants to work with. 
Life FormLatin (scientific) name        Common NameHerbaceous plants     Arisaema triphyllum Jack-in-the-pulpit Smilacina racemosa False Solomon’s Seal   Grass-like plantsCarex pensylvanica Pennsylvania sedge   Tree SeedlingsFraxinus species Ash
  There are things that can be done to stop spreading worms.  If you go fishing and don't use all your worms, dispose of them properly so they will not get into a woodland.  Don't dump them in the water, some can live a long time in water.  Put signage up around fishing areas advising fishermen not to release unused worms.  Unfortunately in most of our areas with fishing there is already an earthworm problem.  Be careful when transporting soil from one area to another, you may be transporting worms with it.  Be careful when working in areas with severe invasions.  Worm egg cases are very small and are easily transported.  They can even be in that clump of mud on your boots. At this time there is no silver bullet to get rid of them.  If there was, it might change a lot of things in a good way.  Another thing to remember is all this talk about non-native worms is rather recent.  There is a lot to learn.  If I had to choose between problems with deer or earthworms, I'd choose deer.  At least you can do something to deal with the problem. 
John Pogacnik
  
                                          
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