Booth Id:
PLNT020
Category:
Plant Sciences
Year:
2018
Finalist Names:
Enneking-Norton, Flannery (School: Saint Paul Academy and Summit School)
Abstract:
Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn) and members of the family Lumbricidae (earthworms)
are two invasive species to Minnesota that negatively affect native plant growth and contribute to
overall forest decline (Frelich and Reich 2009). Previous studies have shown a relationship
between the two organisms, including that the removal of buckthorn led to diminished earthworm
population size in a controlled experiment in hardwood tree stands. This experiment sought to
expand the results of the previous research to establish a pattern in the relationship between
buckthorn and earthworms across multiple ecological sites, as well as explore how buckthorn
removal affects the level of earthworm invasion. There was no significant difference in the overall
abundance of earthworms between sites of buckthorn removal. However, there was a significant
reduction in the abundance of Lumbricus terrestris (nightcrawlers) in areas of buckthorn removal,
which suggests that buckthorn removal may be one avenue for regulating earthworm
populations, specifically of L. terrestris, which are indicative of the highest level of invasion.
Keywords: invasive species, buckthorn, earthworms, invasion