Soil organisms are cuter than penguins!

Today we spent some time inspecting moss species at one of our main research sites. This is a great way to see some of the soil organisms that we study!

For our experiments, we extract the organisms from the soil and plants in the lab, and look at them through a microscope. But to do this, they are preserved in ethanol or formaldehyde. They aren’t alive when we work with them in the lab. 

To see them alive in their natural habitat, you have to look closely! It may look like nothing is living in the moss or soil… but if you move a rock, you can see all sorts of organisms living there! (You might have to make the video full-screen in order to see the small critters!)

The first things you see in the video are some white Collembola, which are commonly called springtails. These springtails spend their life below the surface, which is why they are white. Why bother making pigment if nobody can see you through the soil anyway? 

Then, you will see some mites. These move on the surface and below, so they are brown to blend in with the soil. There are two kinds of mites in the video. One is moving around a lot on top of the soil and moss. The other one is burrowed down a bit and you have to look closely to see it move. 

Here is another video featuring a mite on top of the moss, and a LOT of springtails crawling around among the moss. 

So, as you can see, these organisms are very adorable. They use the moss as their habitat to live and graze for food. They are small, but if you know where to look, you can find a lot of them!