Alien worms at war with Goblins in northern Minnesota -- and the Goblins are losing

The super rare and elusive Goblin Fern of northern Minnesota.

Alien worms are attacking goblins in northern Minnesota, and things are starting to look grim for the goblin forces.

Sound like something out of a bad science fiction B movie? Well, the goblins in this case are the rare and delicate Minnesota native plant, the goblin fern. Their very existence is being threatened by the common earthworm.

But did you know that earthworms you have seen all of your life in your garden, or have dug up for fishing, are not native to Minnesota? They're not.

The ancient glaciers which once covered Minnesota left the rich Minnesota soil worm free. It was European settlers that probably introduced the earth worm to north American soils hundreds of years ago.

Now -- and here's the thing about the amazing and rare goblin fern --unlike most plants, they don't need sunlight to absorb energy and survive!

Rather, they garner all of their nourishment from what is called "duff," which is the layers of rotting leaves on the forest floor.  Duff produces a kind of fungi that is yummy food for the goblins!

Earthworms are very good at eating duff, stealing food from the "mouths" of the goblin fern. 

True, earthworms are beneficial to many kinds of plants, including the vegetables and flowers we grow in our gardens. That's because worms eat organic matter -- such as rotting leaves -- and transform it into nutrient-rich plant food.

But this plant food is also very good for all manner of non-native "alien" plant forms that are imported from other countries by a variety of means, most of them accidental.

The bottom line is, native plants that are natural to northern Minnesota, such as the rare and delicate goblin fern, may be pushed out and die off completely and the landscape may be transformed by the all-new players.

Should we really care about the goblin fern? It probably has no practical use. We don't eat it like we do a variety of other plants, and it has no known non-food applications, such as making medicinal products, such as lotions like that made from the aloe vera plant.

Most of us will probably never even see a goblin fern throughout our lifetimes.

But think of it this way: The goblin fern is a symbol for all that is native to Minnesota, and the fact that it is threatened has wider implications.

For example, the plants that displace the goblin fern are most likely to be alien, noxious weeds that have no value either, and, in fact, will cause a variety of other problems -- such as infesting the beautiful, sparkling clear lakes of our state, turning them green and choking them with weeds.

Does this mean we should start a war on earthworms?  What about the good that earthworms bring by enriching the soil?

So many complex questions, so few simple answers. But I can't help but say -- Go Goblins!