Clive A. Edwards was appointed as Chair of the Department of Entomology at the Ohio State University in 1985. He has published extensively on soil ecology, environmental toxicology, and sustainable agriculture, and he is currently recognized as a world authority on earthworms. His book, The Biology and Ecology of Earthworms, is the first comprehensive book on earthworms since Charles Darwin's The Production of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Earthworms which was published in 1881. In 1996, Professor Edwards's above book won a Presidential Citation from the U.S. Soil & Water Conservation Society. A prolific writer, he has published more than 450 scientific publications including writing, editing or co-editing more than 35 books. He remained a distinguished Emeritus Professor until his death in 2021.

Norman Q. Arancon is a faculty member of the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Science Management at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. He obtained M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Science from The Ohio State University (OSU), Columbus, Ohio USA after Fulbright fellowship at The Ohio State University from 1997 to 2001. Together with Dr. Clive Edwards and his students at the Soil Ecology Laboratory, they pioneered research on vermicompost applications in the field using other commercially important vegetables to investigate their effects on chemical and biochemical changes in soils. He received Hawaii Legislature, Gubernatorial and Hawaii House of Representatives citations for his contributions in science and technology in 2012, 2019 and 2021, respectively.

Features the latest research on earthworms since the previous edition

Covers the current state of knowledge on some 3,000 earthworm species

Examines the importance of earthworms in the environment

Ch. 1. Earthworm Morphology.- Ch. 2. Earthworm Physiology.- Ch. 3. Earthworm Diversity, Dispersal, and Geographical Distribution.- Ch. 4. Earthworm Life Histories and Biology.- Ch. 5. Earthworm Ecology: Populations.- Ch. 6. Earthworm Ecology: Communities.- Ch. 7. The Influence of Environmental Factors on Earthworms.- Ch. 8. The Role of Earthworms in Organic Material and Nutrient Cycles.- Ch. 9.- Interactions Between Earthworms, Microorganisms, and Other Invertebrates.- Ch. 10. Role of Earthworms in Soil Structure, Fertility and Productivity.- Ch.11. Adverse and Beneficial Aspects of Earthworms.- Ch. 12. Earthworms in Environmental Management.- Ch.13. Earthworms in Organic Waste Management.- Ch.14. Effects of Agricultural Practices and Chemicals on Earthworms.