Bill's Botanical Forays

The worm plots are historically significant because of the role they played in DDT research. In the 1960’s, researchers at the USGS’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center conducted research on the effect that certain pesticides had on raptors. Rachel Carson in her 1962 book suggested that these pesticides were causing serious harm to the environment and to humans. The research conducted here seemed to confirm her suggestion. One of the areas researched by the USGS researchers was on the uptake of DDT by earthworms which are eaten by birds such as robins.  The research found that even after 45 years in 2011, the residue of DDT could still be found in the soil at these worm plots.

For more information, see the article written in the Friends of Patuxent Newsletter of January-March 2012 – http://friendsofpatuxent.org/images/JanMar12v23n1.pdf