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<p class="MsoNormal">While there are plenty of invasive earthworms in North America, primarily in the northeast and areas that have been relatively recently lost their glaciers, about 2/3rds of the earthworms in North America are natives and could have fed
American Robins before transatlantic shipping became common:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white">Earthworms are shifting their ranges northwards into forests between </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45th_parallel_north" title="45th parallel north"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366CC;background:white;text-decoration:none">45°</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/69th_parallel_north" title="69th parallel north"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366CC;background:white;text-decoration:none">69°
latitude</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"> in North America that have lacked native earthworms since the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_glacial_period" title="Last glacial period"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366CC;background:white;text-decoration:none">last
ice age</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-Frelich_4-0"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_earthworms_of_North_America#cite_note-Frelich-4"><span style="color:#3366CC;text-decoration:none">[4]</span></a></span></sup><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"> The
worms in question are primary engineers of their environment. They are considered </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species" title="Keystone species"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366CC;background:white;text-decoration:none">keystone
species</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"> because, as </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detritivore" title="Detritivore"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366CC;background:white;text-decoration:none">detritivores</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white">,
they alter many different variables of their ecosystem.</span><sup id="cite_ref-Frelich_4-1"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_earthworms_of_North_America#cite_note-Frelich-4"><span style="color:#3366CC;text-decoration:none">[4]</span></a></span></sup><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"> Of
the 182 taxa of earthworms found in the United States and Canada, 60 (33%) are introduced species.</span><sup id="cite_ref-Blakemore_5-0"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_earthworms_of_North_America#cite_note-Blakemore-5"><span style="color:#3366CC;text-decoration:none">[5]</span></a></span></sup><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#202122;background:white"> “</span>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_earthworms_of_North_America">
Invasive earthworms of North America - Wikipedia</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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