Earthworm Model to Study the Effects of Environmental Pollutants

Dear Colleagues,

Earthworms are soil-dwelling invertebrates that are highly important in terrestrial ecosystems and of big value for functional soil ecology and health. However, due to their soil-dwelling lifestyle, earthworms are particularly exposed to a variety of environmental stressors ranging from natural fluctuations of biotic and abiotic factors to adverse chemical impacts, which can partly be attributed to anthropogenic involvement.

Having a coordinated environmental pollution response network at the molecular level is of major importance to earthworms for inducing general and specific coping mechanisms, which can lead to their adaptation to changing environmental conditions.

This highlights the value of research on earthworms with respect to conservation biology in addition to the effects of environmental pollution in rapidly changing terrestrial environments.

The aim of this Special Issue is to further our understanding of environmental pollution effects in earthworms as discerned from basic and applied research, mechanistic studies, omics approaches as well as comparative investigations.

Dr. Martina Hockner
Guest Editor

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