Worm castings, Bwlch Mawr
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Worm castings, Bwlch Mawr by Natasha Ceridwen de Chroustchoff as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Worm castings, Bwlch Mawr
Image: © Natasha Ceridwen de Chroustchoff Taken: 23 Nov 2008
These tiny coils of digested soil are deposited on the surface of lawns and grassy areas by earthworms. Although annoying to fussy gardeners, they form a highly nutritive compost. Charles Darwin's last book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms with Observations on their Habits (1881), was the result of 40 years' research on these humble creatures which, he explained, have been responsible for sifting and turning the entire earth's surface. He calculated that in the course of one year, in an acre of land, they bring to the surface in the form of castings, 18 tons of earth, enriching and aerating the land in the process.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
52.006156
Longitude
-4.909796