New research out of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum shows that temperatures of about 100 degrees Fahrenheit kill the cocoons of invasive jumping worms.
New research out of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum shows that temperatures of about 100 degrees Fahrenheit kill the cocoons of invasive jumping worms.
That’s good news for ecologists and horticulturalists who are working to slow or stop the spread of the worms, which can damage the soils they invade. Common practices that raise the temperature sufficiently could limit the ability of worms to spread through paths such as compost or potted plants.
But this study is just an early step — little remains known about the life cycle of these invaders or how to stop them.
“We’ve been focused on the cocoon stage of the life cycle because we think that’s one way they are being spread. They’re small and hard to see so they’re easy to spread on shoes, equipment or soil,” says Brad Herrick, the Arboretum ecologist who co-led the recent study. “We wanted to try heat because in Wisconsin and many other states, commercially produced compost must be heated to 55 degrees Celsius, a treatment that we thought could kill the cocoons.”
Read more at University of Wisconsin-Madison
