part Part I Introduction -- chapter 1 The Importance of Earthworms as Key Representatives of the Soil Fauna -- chapter 2 How Earthworms Affect Plant Growth: Burrowing into the Mechanisms -- part Part II Earthworm Taxonomy, Diversity, and Biogeography -- chapter 3 Planetary Processes and Their Interactions with Earthworm Distributions and Ecology -- chapter 4 The Status of Earthworm Biogeography, Diversity, and Taxonomy in North America Revisited with Glimpses into the Future -- chapter 5 Invasion of Exotic Earthworms into North America and Other Regions -- part Part III Earthworm Biology, Ecology, Behavior, and Physiology -- chapter 6 Factors Affecting the Abundance of Earthworms in Soils -- chapter 7 A Comprehensive Study of the Taxonomy and Ecology of the Lumbricid Earthworm Genus Octodrilus from the Carpathians -- part Part IV Influence of Earthworms on Soil Organic Matter Dynamics, Nutrient Dynamics, and Microbial Ecology -- chapter 8 Effects of Earthworms on Soil Organic Matter and Nutrient Dynamics at a Landscape Scale over Decades -- chapter 9 Integrating the Effects of Earthworms on Nutrient Cycling across Spatial and Temporal Scales -- part Part V Effects of Earthworms on Soil Physical Properties and Function -- chapter 10 Quantifying the Effects of Earthworms on Soil Aggregation and Porosity -- chapter 11 Effects of Earthworms on Soil Organization -- part Part VI Interactions of Earthworms with Microorganisms, Invertebrates, and Plants -- chapter 12 Functional Interactions between Earthworms, Microorganisms, Organic Matter, and Plants -- chapter 13 Impacts of Earthworms on Other Biota in Forest Soils, with Some Emphasis on Cool Temperate Montane Forests -- part Part VII Earthworms in Agroecosystems -- chapter 14 Managing Earthworms as a Resource in Australian Pastures -- chapter 15 Earthworms in Agroecosystems: Research Approaches -- part Part VIII Earthworms and Environmental Pollution -- chapter 16 Earthworms as Test Organisms in Ecotoxicological Assessment of Toxicant Impacts on Ecosystems -- chapter 17 Earthworms in Environmental Research -- part Part IX Earthworms in Waste Management -- chapter 18 The Use of Earthworms in the Breakdown of Organic Wastes to Produce Vermicomposts and Animal Feed Protein -- chapter 19 The Use of Earthworms: Nature’s Gift for Utilization of Organic Wastes in Asia -- chapter 20 State-of-the-Art and New Perspectives on Vermicomposting Research.