Foot-long pencil-thin night crawlers prove to be powerful earthmovers and decomposers of certain crops, according to research by a visiting Swedish scientist and investigators at UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz. Robert Bugg of the UC Davis-based UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and colleagues tested the impact of introducing night crawlers -- known as fish bait or Lumbricus terrestris -- in the Winters walnut orchard of Russell Lester. They found that this species, sold by wholesalers, is more efficient at "recycling" plant material than the resident earthworm species typically found in the orchards. "The night crawlers are able to move the mown cover crop into their 8-foot-deep burrows and decompose it more rapidly than the resident earthworms," according to Bugg. "This work is significant particularly for farmers who are trying to reduce tillage in their orchards." Bugg noted that the researchers were pleased to be able to formally demonstrate in California walnut orchards what has been shown in the lab and observed elsewhere in the field. The researchers are preparing a paper for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.