Soil Superheroes - Worms Combat Desertification and Drought

REGINA, Saskatchewan - June 17, 2025 - PRLog -- Heart & Soil Living Spotlights Soil Superheroes for World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

Dirt is lifeless, dry, and desertified. But add life, and you've got SOIL… a living, breathing ecosystem, which retains water, nourishes plants, and supports all life on Earth.

"Here's the incredible bit," says soil ecologist Dr. Rob Blakemore. "If you have worms, the microbes really take off. Microbes' abundance increases 10x, 100x, 1000x when it passes through a worm's gut. So the soil that comes out the back of the earthworm is much more microbially rich than the soil going in."

This microbial explosion enhances soil structure, nutrient availability, and water retention, creating a powerful cycle. Healthy soil teeming with worms and microbial life is resilient soil.

This World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought June 17th, Heart & Soil Living turns the spotlight on the Soil Superheroes beneath our feet: earthworms. Forget capes – these creatures combat dry spells and degraded land with castings and microbes.

"Just a 1% increase in soil organic matter—something earthworms help build rapidly—allows a single acre of soil to hold an additional 25,000 gallons of water," highlights Steve Churchill in Heart & Soil Magazine Issue 04.

How Earthworms Help Improve Soil and Plant Growth

• Earthworms dig tunnels in the soil that improve air and water movement, preventing soil from drying out or flooding.
• Their droppings, called castings, add vital nutrients to the soil and create a more resilient, microbially-active humus, which acts like a sponge, that enhances fertility, plant growth, and water retention.
• Worm castings act as a "glue" to bind soil particles—sand, silt, and clay—together into stable clumps or aggregates, which improves water infiltration.
• Earthworms also increase the amount of calcium carbonate in the soil, enhancing nutrient availability for plants and capturing carbon from the atmosphere.

Dig a shovel of soil from your land—do you see at least 10 worms? If not, it's time to focus on building the life in your soil, and help to improve the world's desertification and drought.

Building soil organic matter through practices that encourage worms—like composting, mulching, reducing tillage, and avoiding harsh chemicals—is a practical, powerful strategy for land restoration and water security everywhere, from farms to backyards.

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