November 1, 2013 at 3:57 p.m.
RHS students head to the woods to battle earthworms
RHS students head to the woods to battle earthworms
Helping them along the way was Oneida County Conservationist Jean Hansen who teamed up with the classes taught by teacher Cheryl Esslinger to complete a study on invasive earthworms.
"It's a WHIP project, which is Wisconsin Headwaters Invasive Partnership. We got a grant from the Department of Natural Resources and they are collecting data on where the worms are located and, just as important, where they're not located," Hansen said.
"The students had classroom work already so they're familiar with what we're doing, and now they get to get out in the field and do some data collecting and surveying and get some real field experience."
Hansen said earthworms are technically an invasive species, one that is harmful to the forests of the Northwoods.
"In the last couple of years, it came about that earthworms are invasive. They're nonnative worms. A lot of people think about worms for fishing or for being good for gardening and that sort of thing and, not to take away from any of that, they're not good for forests," Hansen said.
"With the duff layer, which is the layer with the leaves and the naturally decaying stuff, what happens is the worms will come up and they'll eat all of the duff and then you don't have anything under the plants."
"People that love the trilliums in the spring, areas where you'll see trilliums and then you'll see a big bare spot, it's probably that earthworms have eaten all of the nutrients there and they recycle those nutrients faster than they need to be. They need to be broken down very slowly by bacteria and fungi instead of the earthworms. The earthworms break it down so fast that there's nothing left for everything else," Esslinger added.
Those nutrients are important to many parts of the forest.
"There are so many other things that live in the environment of the duff layer - the bacterias, fungi, insects, centipedes, all kinds of things live in the duff layer. All of these things need those nutrients," Hansen said.
Instead of having the students just sit in a classroom listening to a lecture and possibly watching a video on the subject, Hansen is walking them through the fieldwork process to help them not only learn, but gain the real-world experience of being a scientist.
"We identify what's around us - the trees, the type of soil, the type of weather we're dealing with - and then we scrape off all of the duff and we get down to the dirt, the soil. Then, we mix a concoction of dry mustard and water up in a gallon jug and we pour that over the soil and, if there's worms in the area, they'll be up in a minute," Hansen said.
"Once they come up, the kids then grab them and identify them. There are three different types of worms that we're looking for. There are red worms which are usually in the top layer of the soil, then a little further down there are the grayer worms, and then even further down are the nightcrawlers."
Once they're done collecting the data, the worms will be removed from the forest and used either as fish bait or as assistants in the class compost bin.
"We're surveying to see what's here, but we're also not putting them back. Kids can take them for fishing and we have a compost bin in the classroom that we are going to put some in, so it's not like we're just killing them - expect for in fishing - but we're also surveying so if they take all of these different spots, they can put them together and come up with an average of what's out here and that data will be sent down to Madison and they'll know where the earthworms are and where they're not," Esslinger said.
Being out in the field, as opposed to sitting in a classroom was exciting for junior Jordan Lundt.
"It's feels great to be out here and actually do some hands-on work," he said. "Overall, it's a great experience. This is important stuff, to learn about all of this stuff and get out and do some real work to try and help the forests and learn about them and the worms."
Learning about the worms is part of a newer section in the environmental sciences curriculum, one that focuses more closely on issues in the Northwoods.
"We're trying to kind of change up our environmental science class to build on what they teach in the junior high and focus on issues of the Northwoods. Each of my students are doing their own research on different environmental issues in the Northwoods," Esslinger said.
"This is a chance for the students to see how scientists really work and they can build on that for their own projects. They get a chance to actually be part of something bigger than they are, doing what other community members and extension people and the DNR would do. They're actually getting to take part in the actual research."
The students' research will help the DNR keep area forests safe, which is in the interest of many Northwoods residents.
"Forest health is also a concern of the lumber industry and paper industry, which is big up here, and if the forest health declines, their product goes down and that could start disappearing. There are a lot of people that have an interest in this," Esslinger said.
The impeccable water quality of the Northwoods could also be at stake, Hansen added.
"Water quality, too," she said. "If you have poor forests, that's one reason we have good water quality around here is because we have good, healthy forests, so it could affect a lot of things."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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