Damhnait McHugh, Raab Family Chair and professor of biology, and collaborators Olaf Schmidt (University College Dublin, Ireland) and Daniel Fern谩ndez March谩n, Marta Novo, and Sergio Jim茅nez Pinadero (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) have received an award for $102,000 for their project "History, Ecological Impacts, and Adaptation of an Introduced Soil Dweller in the Changing Climate of Ireland".
The project will investigate an introduced species of earthworm newly found in Ireland. The small worm, which was previously limited to southern France and northern Spain, was reported for the first time in 2012 in southeastern Ireland and has now reached high numbers at historically significant sites there, ranging from 5,000-year old passage tombs to the first farm lands on the island.
Combining their expertise in ecology, evolution and genomics, the international team and their students will investigate how and when the worm was introduced, its ecological impacts on local fauna, and how it is physiologically and genetically adapted to the climate in Ireland. They will also collaborate with Irish archaeologists to interpret their results in the context of the well-documented ancient and recent human history of the introduction sites. Ultimately, the research can inform management of this invasive species.