A Rum tale with an interesting backstory

How giant earthworms have transformed the Isle of Rum’s landscape

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This article covers how the Highland Clearances, wealthy landowners who “imported 250,000 tonnes of good-quality Ayrshire soil to spread around their new home”, Manx shearwaters and NNR status, led to the current earthworm diversity & distribution.

The ‘giant’ in the headlines is Lumbricus terrestris: “At over 13g, some three times the normal weight for this species, these earthworms may have been up to ten years old.”