The PGC has been telling us we had to reduce the herd because over browsing by deer was preventing adequate regeneration of our existing forests. But ,according to some scientists there may be another significant cause for the lack of regeneration and that is the effects of the european earthworm which is invading many of the forests in the northern tier states.
Here is a quote regarding the effects these earthworms have had on the forests in Minn.
Invading earthworms appear to be causing widespread loss of native forest plant species and affecting the stability of hardwood-forest ecosystems, said Hale, a graduate student in the university's department of forest resources. During the last few decades, European earthworm species have moved into hardwood forests in the northern tier of the United States.
"We have documented significant damage in the Chippewa National Forest and in isolated forest preserves in and near the Twin Cities area in southern parts of Minnesota," Hale noted.
Minnesota's hardwood forests, which developed in the absence of native earthworms after the last glaciers retreated, contain a thick forest floor that serves as a perfect rooting medium for many species of forest herbs and tree seedlings. In the 1800s European settlers arrived, bringing with them European earthworm species in potted plants. European earthworms have been part of the habitats surrounding human habitation ever since..