York Region Research Articles

Flu Epidemic, Limited Attention and Analyst Forecast Behavior

This study provides the direct evidence that limited attention caused by exogenous distraction influences financial market participants. Specifically, we examine the changes of analyst forecast behavior during influenza epidemics when analysts are facing attention limits resulted from the distraction of experiencing flu symptoms by their family members, relatives, colleagues, and themselves. This paper finds that higher flu intensity in the New York and New Jersey region is associated with lower degree of disagreement on target-price forecasts among financial analysts. More interestingly, analysts are more likely to over-predict target-price for high-performing stocks and under-predict target-price for low-performing stocks. We verify this result using an alternative measure of exogenous distraction that limits analysts’ attention: vaccine side-effect incidence, and we find consistent evidence supporting the hypothesis that the limited attention or effort allocated to their work affects analysts’ forecast behavior; as a result, their ability to act as an important source of information revelation is reduced for at least a short period of time.

Measuring function and structure of urban headwater streams with citizen scientists

AbstractHeadwater streams accumulate, process, and export organic materials for use in downstream environments. Decomposition of organic material, an important ecosystem function, may be sensitive to land cover changes in urbanizing regions since headwater stream processes tend to be tightly coupled with riparian and catchment characteristics. Headwaters represent 70–80% of total stream length in watersheds but are disproportionately converted to drainage infrastructure or buried with urban development. Cumulatively, this loss may result in substantial changes to physical and biological downstream processes. From a monitoring perspective, headwaters are largely ignored compared with fishable/navigable waterways for planning decisions, so their structural and functional variability is not well understood. Here, we engaged citizen scientists to contribute data on this variability and to evaluate the sensitivity of standardized cotton‐strip decomposition rates to multiscale factors across headwaters with varying landscape conditions in the Greater Toronto Area (York Region), Canada. These factors included stream, riparian vegetation, and catchment characteristics. We expected decomposition rates to be similarly sensitive to local‐ and catchment‐scale factors because of the strong links between headwater catchment and stream processes. We also expected a hump‐shaped distribution of decomposition rates across a gradient of urban cover, with stimulating effects at low to moderate cover but deleterious effects at high urban cover. We found that decomposition rate was most sensitive to local‐scale factors (e.g., strip burial, stream velocity, and both local upland riparian vegetation density and topography) rather than whole catchment properties. We did not find the expected hump‐shaped distribution with urban cover and suggest that more mechanistic studies are needed for understanding cotton‐strip decomposition to control for local factors in determining the scale at which decomposition rate is most sensitive to land cover change.

3545 “Sofia Learns about Research”: an interactive storybook to educate children and their families on clinical research with a welcoming and inclusive approach.

3545 “Sofia Learns about Research”: an interactive storybook to educate children and their families on clinical research with a welcoming and inclusive approach.

Who has long commutes to low-wage jobs? Gender, race, and access to work in the New York region

ABSTRACTGeographies of home and work have changed as public investment has favored central and distant suburban locations and as income inequality has increased. These changes result in shifting geographies of advantage that (dis)benefit gender and racial/ethnic groups unevenly. We examine commuting differentials by gender and race/ethnicity based on combinations of wages and commute times using data for the New York region.We find that Black, Asian, and Hispanic women and men are concentrated in jobs that have long commutes and low-wages, and Black and Hispanic workers’ concentrations increased from 2000–2010.Although Asian men and women remain overrepresented in that category, their share decreased in the 2000's.The urban core has become a region of heightened advantage, as White men, and an increasing share of White women, commute short times to well-paid jobs. Disadvantage has expanded for Black and Latina women whose long commutes are not compensated by well-paid employment.

Resident Hospital Discharges by Severity of Illness at the Regional Level

In the twentieth century, government sponsored health planning focused on the use of services by population in the United States. This case study evaluated the impact of severity of illness for resident hospital discharges for 2017, the latest time period for which this information was available. It focused on the Central New York Health Service Area, one of the original health planning populations. The study demonstrated that patients at Extreme severity of illness constituted similar percentages of adult medicine and adult surgery populations in the Central New York Region. The sizes of Moderate severity of illness populations were also similar. The study identified considerable differences in the sizes of Minor and Major severity of illness populations for adult medicine and adult surgery in the Central New York Region. These differences resulted from large numbers of healthy patients in the adult surgery population. They were admitted for orthopedic procedures and procedures to address obesity.

Evaluating Hospital Inpatient Discharges at the Regional Level

Historically, the evaluation of hospital utilization in the United States has been addressed by providers and health planning agencies. This study evaluated resident inpatient hospital discharges for adult medicine and adult surgery in the Central New York Health Service Area, an eleven county region of upstate New York. It focused on small local hospitals and larger referral center hospitals in the region. The study demonstrated that numbers of adult medicine resident discharges from small local hospitals declined by 17.3 percent in most counties of the region between 2012 and 2017. This reduction resulted, in part, from the implementation of medical observation programs that shifted many patients with low severity of illness to outpatient status. The study also demonstrated that numbers of adult surgery resident inpatient discharges from small local hospitals declined by 15.8 percent. This resulted from the inmigration of many surgical patients from these providers to larger hospitals in the region. The study suggested that there may not be sufficient inpatient adult surgery and medicine volumes to support the current number of hospitals in the region.

Long-term lichen trends in a rust belt region

Abstract Deindustrialization and national air pollution standards greatly reduced air pollution in the USA since the mid-20th century, particularly in the ‘rust belt’ industrial cities of the Great Lakes and Northeastern regions. Still, sprawling urbanization, vehicular traffic and coal-fired power plants may maintain regional heat islands and NOx and SO2 pollution. Lichens are one of the first, and longest used, bioindicators of urban heat island effects and atmospheric pollution, but there are few long-term studies of lichen bioindications. We examined herbaria records for lichens collected between 1869 and 2016 in the Western New York (WNY) region (USA). We hypothesized a long-term trend of increasing pollution-sensitive lichens in the region as well as increased desiccation-tolerant species from urban heat island effects. We also evaluated local (urban and tree land use cover) and regional (ecological zones) influences on pollution-sensitive and desiccation-tolerant lichens. We found that the WNY lichen communities appear to be shaped by urbanization with desiccation- and pollution-tolerant species dominating areas adjacent to the urbanized/industrialized core, and direct local effects of the urban heat island and vehicle traffic within the urban core. These results suggest that despite deindustrialization and tighter air quality standards, an industrial imprint remains on the lichen communities of WNY. However, despite urban filtering toward desiccation- and pollution-tolerant lichen species, the urban landscape contributed unique lichen species to the region, increasing WNY’s overall lichen biodiversity as much as the relatively pristine Allegheny Plateau. Hence, the urbanized areas of WNY contribute unique species to the regional lichen flora.

Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen Optimization for Cool-Climate Riesling

Adequate yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) concentration is necessary for successful wine fermentation; therefore, supplementing musts with nitrogen (N) is a common industry practice. In the Finger Lakes region of New York, Riesling juice (Vitis vinifera L.) often has YAN concentrations below the 140 mg/L considered a practical minimal limit. However, little research exists that has confirmed N requirements for cool-climate cultivars and conditions. To test the influence of juice N concentration on desirable sensory characteristics, a Riesling juice of 20 Brix and 130 mg/L initial YAN was supplemented with diammonium phosphate to increase YAN to 180, 250, and 300 mg/L. Each supplemented fraction and the unaltered control were inoculated with three different Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains: EC1118 and W15 (Lallemand), and Cote des Blancs (Red Star). The control concentration of 130 mg N/L was enough for these three yeast strains to complete fermentation, and further supplementation improved fermentation kinetics only for EC1118. N supplementation affected the concentration of eight of the 10 select volatile compounds analyzed in at least one of the yeast strains. Of these, the concentration of most esters increased with N supplementation, with the exception of ethyl cinnamate, which decreased. Concentrations of the higher alcohols 1-hexanol and 2-phenylethanol decreased, and decanoic acid increased, with increased N. Linalool and 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene, two volatiles associated with “varietal character” in Riesling, were not affected. In a preference-ranking test, sensory panelists preferred the unsupplemented control (130 mg N/L) over the supplementation treatments for wines fermented with EC1118. No difference in preference was found for the W15 and Cote des Blancs treatments.

Show Us the Numbers: Grading the Financial Reports of Canada’s Municipalities

In nearly all larger Canadian municipalities, obscure financial reports – notably, inconsistent presentations of key numbers in budgets and end-of-year financial statements – hamper councillors, ratepayers and voters who seek to hold their municipal governments to account. Simple information, such as how much the municipality plans to spend this year or how its spending plan this year compares with the previous year’s, is hard or impossible for a non-expert citizen or councillor to find. The differences between how the numbers appear in budgets and in financial results have real-world consequences. For example, by presenting net, rather than gross, budget figures, municipalities exclude key services such as water and the fees that fund them, obscuring key activities and understating both their revenue and expense. By using cash, rather than accrual, accounting, they exaggerate infrastructure investment costs, hide the cost of pension obligations, and make it hard to match the costs and benefits of their activities. Moreover, many municipalities approve their budgets after significant money has already been committed or spent in the fiscal year, fail to publish their fiscal year-end financial results in a timely way and bury key numbers deep in their documents. This report card grades the financial presentations of major Canadian municipalities in their most recent budgets and financial statements. Of those we assessed, Toronto, Durham Region, Kitchener, Quebec City, Longueuil and Montreal failed, providing little information in reader-friendly form. More happily, Surrey garners an A for clarity and completeness of its financial presentation, York Region is a close second with an A, while Vancouver and Markham are also good performers. We have two key recommendations. First, municipal governments should present their annual budgets on the same accounting basis as their year-end financial statements. Their budgets should use accrual accounting, recording revenues and expenses as the relevant activities occur. For their part, provincial governments that impede the use of accrual-based budgets – by mandating that cities present separate operating and capital budgets, for example – should stop doing so. Indeed, provinces should mandate cities to present accrual budgets so the fiscal pictures of municipalities and the province use the same transparent standard. Even in cases where a province is an impediment, municipalities could release the relevant information on their own – and they should. Second, budgets, like financial statements, should show city-wide consolidated, gross revenue and spending figures that represent the city’s full claim on its citizens’ resources and the full scope of its activities. These changes would help raise the financial management of Canada’s municipalities to a level more commensurate with their importance in Canadians’ lives.

1288. Adolescents’ Knowledge and Acceptance of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in the Capital District Region of New York

BackgroundIn 2015, adolescents 13–24 years were disproportionately affected and accounted for 22% of new HIV infections in the United States. In New York State (NYS), the rate of adolescents (13–19 years) living with HIV infection is more than twice the national rate (44.4 vs. 19.4 per 100,000 population). As part of the ending the epidemic (ETE) program, the NYS Department of Health spearheaded access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk individuals to keep them HIV negative. This study aims to test the hypothesis that adolescents at risk may not be utilizing PrEP and that there are barriers to adopting it.MethodsA cross-sectional survey (Qualtrics) was conducted from Aug 2017 to May 2018 using a 13-item multiple choice and Lickert scale validated questionnaire that takes <5 minutes to complete. Descriptive and nonparametric tests (GraphPad Prism v5.04) were used to characterize knowledge and acceptance of PrEP among adolescents in Capital District NY after the initiation of the ETE program in NYS.ResultsThere were 97 respondents and 89 (92%) completed all questions. Most of the respondents identify themselves as female (36%), straight (27%), middle aged adolescents 15–17 years (64%), African American (46%) and currently in high school (69%). Majority have seen a medical provider in the past 12 months (90%), at the doctor’s office (61%), and majority have never been offered HIV test (60%). Majority have not heard of a medicine that can prevent HIV infection (58%), most have not heard of PrEP (57%), and many do not know where to go to learn more about PrEP (56%). Most have not been offered PrEP (86%) and respondents were split in adopting PrEP (yes 49% vs. no 51%). The reasons for not agreeing to start PrEP are shown in Figure 1. Majority are interested in attending educational program on PrEP (57%). Adolescents are likely to adopt PrEP if they heard about it (P = 0.01), if they know where to go to learn about it (P = 0.02), and if someone offered it (P = 0.03).ConclusionAdolescent knowledge of PrEP may be suboptimal and presents barriers to adopting it. However, they are willing to accept PrEP if offered. This study demonstrates potential avenues for intervention and provider-initiated programs should be evaluated in scaling-up PrEP into adolescent health services. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Impact of price elasticity on the healthfulness of food choices by gender

Objective: To extend findings from experimental price elasticity studies by examining these effects in a field setting and identifying gender differences in purchasing behaviour in response to variations in the cost of lower energy-dense (ED) and higher ED foods. Setting: Data were collected from low- and median-income male and female grocery shoppers at a supermarket in the Western New York region. Design: Using a procedure adapted from experimental economics, participants were given a debit card in a grocery store setting and allowed to purchase any foods from two pricing conditions. Conditions were identical, except one had lower ED foods low priced, and the other had lower ED foods higher priced. The design was fully counterbalanced. Results: Overall, when lower ED foods were more expensive, fewer lower ED foods were purchased (95% confidence interval [CI]: −1.0, −.40). Gender differences revealed that men spent more money (in dollars) when higher ED foods were higher priced (95% CI: US$0.51, US$1.73) and women spent more money when lower ED foods were higher priced (95% CI: − US$2.21, − US$0.11). Furthermore, women, but not men, increased spending when lower ED foods were higher priced (95% CI: − US$2.85, − US$0.73). Conclusion: Higher costs for fruits and vegetables among consumers can adversely affect the purchase volume of these foods, with men being most susceptible to pricing manipulations. Results contribute to an understanding of how perceptions of price impact consumer choice and suggest that efforts aimed to increase the perceived value of health over cost should be tailored towards men.

ADDRESSING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEEDS OF FAMILY CAREGIVERS AND VETERANS WITH DEMENTIA IN PRIMARY CARE

AbstractThe New York/New Jersey VA Health Care Network maintains an evidence-based approach to improving dementia recognition and supporting family caregivers of primary care veterans with dementia. This telephone-based program is administered through a telehealth call center and currently provides services to primary care clinics and family caregivers across the upstate New York region. The program includes brief cognitive and health behavior assessment for veterans with identified risk for undiagnosed dementia, linkage between primary care providers and dementia specialists, and, care management services. Caregiver education and support emphasizes training in management of behavioral symptoms of dementia. Program evaluation by the VA Center for Integrated Healthcare has demonstrated positive outcomes including: more rapid recognition of dementia in primary care; improved caregiver attitude, self-efficacy, and, understanding of veteran behaviors; and, the decreased costs of care for these veterans.

Building a Connection to Your Water: York Region's “Water Is” Communications Campaign

Journal AWWAVolume 110, Issue 10 p. 80-85 Public Affairs Building a Connection to Your Water: York Region's “Water Is” Communications Campaign Laura McDowell, Laura McDowellSearch for more papers by this author Laura McDowell, Laura McDowellSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 October 2018 https://doi.org/10.1002/awwa.1174Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume110, Issue10October 2018Pages 80-85 RelatedInformation

Extent of Health Care Fragmentation in Different Payer Populations: Evidence from the Hudson Valley of New York.

Health care fragmentation occurs when patients see multiple ambulatory providers, but no single provider accounts for a substantial proportion of visits. Most previous studies have measured fragmentation in Medicare, which may not be generalizable. The study objective was to compare the extent of fragmented ambulatory care across commercially insured, Medicare, and Medicaid populations. The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of adults (N = 256,047) in the Hudson Valley region of New York, who were continuously insured (through 5 commercial payers, Medicare, or Medicaid), were attributed to a primary care physician, and had ≥4 ambulatory visits in the study year. Fragmentation was calculated using a reversed Bice-Boxerman Index, which captures both dispersion of care across providers and the relative share of visits by each provider. Chi-square tests, t tests, and correlation were used to compare patient characteristics and patterns of care across payers. Patients with Medicare had more chronic conditions (45% had ≥5 chronic conditions) than patients with commercial insurance (20%) or Medicaid (23%) (P < 0.01). However, mean fragmentation scores were comparable across all 3 payer populations: 0.73 (commercial insurance), 0.74 (Medicare), 0.72 (Medicaid). The correlation between number of chronic conditions and fragmentation was weak across payers, ranging from r = 0.004 to r = 0.12. If the extent of fragmentation does not vary with payer type or with the number of chronic conditions, it suggests that the causes of fragmentation may be more numerous and more complex than medical need alone.

Spatiotemporal patterns of forest damage and disturbance in the northeastern United States: 2000–2016

Forest damage and disturbance can have significant influences on tree vigor, species composition, biodiversity, and associated ecosystem services. Recognizing the importance of monitoring spatiotemporal patterns of forest health, federal and state agencies in the United States (US) have conducted aerial insect and disease surveys (IDS) annually to quantify the extent of forest damage by type and causal agent. Although agencies have collected these geospatial data for decades, long-term trends and patterns have not been synthesized across the predominantly forested region of northern New England and New York. Here, we utilized a novel, online forest damage and disturbance mapping portal, the Northeastern Forest Health Atlas, to investigate inter-annual and long-term patterns (2000–2016). Our analysis indicated that ∼11.0 million ha of forestland (10% of the study region) experienced at least one damage event (i.e., an IDS polygon) over the 17-year period, averaging 647,425 ± 215,482 ha (3.4 ± 1.1% of the region’s forestland) annually. While there were no detectable linear, long-term trends in annual extent or relative abundance of damage by agent category, we found that some ecoregions experienced relatively higher damage rates (e.g., Acadian Plains and Hills, Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens). Across the region, insects were the most extensive damage agent category mapped (∼8 million ha), with a relatively small number of invasive insects (19 species) accounting for half of this damage. Because climate change may alter the type, severity, and frequency of forest disturbance, quantifying baseline patterns of forest damage is critical for detecting shifts in forest dynamics and developing adaptive management strategies.

Reconciling the Entomological Hazard and Disease Risk in the Lyme Disease System.

Lyme disease (LD) is a commonly cited model for the link between habitat loss and/or fragmentation and disease emergence, based in part on studies showing that forest patch size is negatively related to LD entomological risk. An equivalent relationship has not, however, been shown between patch size and LD incidence (LDI). Because entomological risk is measured at the patch scale, while LDI is generally assessed in relation to aggregate landscape statistics such as forest cover, we posit that the contribution of individual patches to human LD risk has not yet been directly evaluated. We design a model that directly links theoretical entomological risk at the patch scale to larger-scale epidemiological data. We evaluate its predictions for relative LD risk in artificial landscapes with varying composition and configuration, and test its ability to predict countywide LDI in a 12-county region of New York. On simulated landscapes, we find that the model predicts a unimodal relationship between LD incidence and forest cover, mean patch size, and mean minimum distance (a measure of isolation), and a protective effect for percolation probability (a measure of connectivity). In New York, risk indices generated by this model are significantly related to countywide LDI. The results suggest that the lack of concordance between entomological risk and LDI may be partially resolved by this style of model.

LO11: Improving patient access, care and transportation by paramedics (IMPACT): a novel curriculum toward redefining paramedic services in Ontario

Introduction: A proportion of Emergency Department (ED) visits may be treated in out-of-hospital settings. The objective of this curriculum was to expand paramedic competencies to safely risk stratify patients and divert low risk, low acuity patients from EDs with and without physician oversight. Methods: We followed Kerns 6-step Curriculum Development Framework . (a) We identified a problem, and (b) completed a needs assessment by retrospectively reviewing the clinical pathways of 3000 patients were cared for and transported by paramedics and received care at an EDs. We used this data to identify competencies (e.g., diagnostics, interventions, reasoning needs) and targeted patient types that would result in the most significant advancements to paramedic services. These were translated to (c) goals and objectives. Results: Our (d) educational strategies involved a 14-week intensive patient-type and case-based curriculum. (e) Implementation involved 3 days/wk of clinical rotations supplemented with 2 days/wk of a mixed curriculum (i.e., fixed instruction using blended didactic small and large group sessions; flexible/individualized curriculum based on identified needs; formative assessments; self and peer-directed learning; simulations). (f) Assessment involved knowledge and application tests, clinical placement and simulation assessments; case development, assignments, and OSCE. Evaluation outcomes included student performance scores across 7-dimensions, clinical placement and student feedback. Thirteen Advanced Care Paramedics from York Region Paramedic Services completed the program. Challenges included provincial stakeholder consensus, and formally addressing clinical suspicion in a protocol based field within a limited time frame. Conclusion: A curriculum for expanded paramedic practice to risk stratify and divert targeted low risk patients from EDs resulted in new paramedic competencies and scope of practice. It received high evaluations from clinical staff and students. Successful candidates will undergo a 1-year study for validation and safety.

MP32: Paramedics using near-infrared spectroscopy in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a feasibility study

Introduction: Long-term outcomes following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remain poor. Two-thirds of OHCA patients surviving to hospital admission die from neurological injuries, and of those discharged, one-third have irreversible cognitive disabilities due to cerebral ischemia. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive imaging technique which is able to continuously detect regional cerebral oxygenation (rSO2). NIRS monitoring has been used to measure rSO2 during in-hospital cardiac arrest resuscitation. Our study is the first feasibility study of paramedics applying NIRS monitoring during OHCA resuscitation. Methods: One NIRS monitor (Equanox 7600; Nonin, Plymouth, MI, USA) was placed on an Emergency Response Unit (ERU) with York Region Paramedic Services. ERU paramedics were trained to apply the device to patients foreheads during OHCA resuscitation and record rSO2 until arrival at hospital or termination of resuscitation. Paramedics did not alter any aspect of patient care by using the NIRS monitor. They were instructed to press an action marker on the device during ACLS interventions (e.g. defibrillation, intubation, medications, etc). rSO2 data was later downloaded for analysis. Our feasibility criteria was to obtain &gt;70% of data files with rSO2 data and &gt;70% of data files with event markers. Results: Data was collected from 24 OHCA patients over a period of 10 months. 19 cases (79%) files contained rSO2 data and 17 cases (71%) had event markers. The rSO2 data present in each file varied widely from complete recording for the entire call duration to sporadic brief readings. Event markers varied from 1 to 10 markers spaced throughout the cases. Conclusion: This is the first study to demonstrate that the use of NIRS by paramedics as part of OHCA resuscitation is feasible. Future studies are required to determine how rSO2 monitoring can be used to guide OHCA resuscitation. The results of this study will help inform protocols for future studies evaluating the use of NIRS in the out-of-hospital setting.

Seasonal changes in acoustic detection of forest birds

Autonomous recording is commonly used to examine the structure of avian communities in a variety of landscapes. Many birds return to the breeding grounds in May yet acoustic surveys typically begin in June. In many species, singing activity declines through the breeding season and so detections may be lower later in the season. The aim of our study was to compare the species richness and the community composition measured early (mid-late May) and later (mid-late June) in the breeding season. We recorded the community of singing birds at 13 locations in York Region, Ontario, Canada woodlots over two days using autonomous recorders. We used spectrographic analysis to scan recordings and identify all vocalizing species. We found that species richness was significantly higher in early recordings compared to later recordings with detections of both migrants and residents displaying this trend. Most food and foraging guilds were also detected significantly less often later in the season. Despite changes in species richness, the proportion of the community represented by each foraging guild did not vary between early and late recordings. Our results suggest that acoustic recordings could be collected earlier in the breeding season, extending the survey period into May. If the primary goal of monitoring is to document species presence/absence then earlier recordings may be advantageous.

Earthworm impacts on trace metal (Al, Fe, Mo, Cu, Zn, Pb) exchangeability and uptake by young Acer saccharum and Polystichum acrostichoides

Non-native earthworms are a continued source of environmental change in the northeastern United States that may affect trace metals in the plant-soil system, with largely unknown effects. We assessed earthworm impacts on exchangeable and strong acid extractable (total) concentrations and pools of Al, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mo, Pb in non-point source polluted, forest soil horizons (Organic, A, and B) and foliar metals concentrations in young (< 3 years) Acer saccharum and Polystichum acrostichoides at four proximal forests in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. We observed decreasing total trace metal Organic horizon pools and increasing total trace metal A horizon concentrations as a function of increasing earthworm biomass. Earthworms had limited effects on exchangeable concentrations in A and B horizons and total metal concentrations in the B horizon. Foliar trace metal concentrations in Acer were better explained by earthworm biomass than soil concentrations but foliar concentrations for Polystichum were poorly predicted by both earthworm biomass and soil metal concentrations. Our results suggest that earthworms can affect trace metal uptake by some plants, but not by increasing soil trace metal exchangeability or from changing soil properties (pH, %SOM, or cation exchange capacity). Instead, non-native earthworms may indirectly alter understory plant uptake of trace metals.