What is the ‘point’ of earthworms? If they all disappeared tomorrow, would there be any impact? (Other than a food source loss for some animals)

Question

As above. Sorry if this is a silly question!

I realise there is no ‘point’ to any particular animal or plant, but you often find that various species provide some sort of benefit (e.g. plants giving out oxygen, those birds that clean crocodiles’ teeth, spiders eat a lot of flies).

I just wondered if worms are particularly ‘useful’, because they don’t seem to do much from what I can tell

In: 170

Answer 1

Earthworms are decomposers. They help break down dead plants and turn them into soil, and distribute nutrients deeper into the soil for alive plants to use. Earthworms don’t exist in all environments, and other invertebrates or fungi do the decomposing instead. But decomposers in general are essential for life to continue, or we’d all be covered in hundreds of meters of dead leaves.