The World of Nematodes

January 2, 2009, we went to South Side Lake Bonney to treat one of our long term research project. We have three different sites, and at each site we add water to some plots to tell how a change in the climate may influence the nematodes. We had already visited the other two sites, and were surprised to find that the plots on this last site were under water.

Usually these plots are very dry and feels like a desert to the animals in the soil, but that is not the case right now. This is not the first time that the water levels have increased. The increase in water is caused by the warm weather we have had in December, and the change will have a great effect on the soil animals. Therefore, we decided to set up a new experiment together with the stream team to find out how all this water influence which species we find in the soil and where they are.

The preparations for the experiment took some time, and we were further delayed by bad weather, but on 8 January we went to the site to set up the experiment. We took some pictures of the stream, which has been named Wormherder Creek, from the helicopter, and as you can tell it is rather big.

One of the things we wanted to know was how the water moved down the hill and how fast. To do this we added some salty (not the regular type of salt we use for our food) water up stream using pumps. Here you see Mitch and Tracy with the pumps used, while they were trying to coordinate when the salt needed to be added to the water.

We also wanted to know how much water were in the stream, and here you see Anna from the stream team preparing to measure just that.

After some time setting everything up and trying to coordinate people (there were a lot of us) we were finally ready to add the salt to the water and begin to collect samples. Everybody were assigned to a spot along the stream, where they would be taking samples every 5 minutes for about 40 minutes, then a sample every 10 minutes for about 2 hours and finishing off with collecting samples every 5 minutes for about 40 minutes again. After this we begun to collect samples from the ground water in other part of the area and with all of these samples we can calculate how fast the water moves down the creek and where it flows.

After we had collected the main set of samples we still needed to collect a lot of other samples, both water samples and soil samples to look at the soil animals. At this point the sun had disappeared behind the mountains and it suddenly became much colder.

Some samples needed to be collected during the night, but most of us still chose to get comfortable in the sleeping bags. Uffe had to stay close to the stream to collect samples every hour

while others got a nap closer to the helicopter landing site

The last samples were collected at 10 am the next morning, and after that we packed all of our gear so we were ready to go home. Part of the team had to visit other sites during the day, while the people staying behind got to take a well deserved nap in the sunshine as they waited for the helicopter.

A couple of days before New Years eve we went on a field trip to sample some areas in the Dry Valleys, that we had not sampled for nematodes before. We did this because we had been told that these areas seemed promising for finding many nematode species together and potentially find some rare species.

It was very cloudy in the morning and we were not sure whether we could get into our field sites. We flew under the clouds across the McMurdo Sound, but when we came to the coast of the other side all the clouds disappeared, although the bottom of the valleys were still covered in fog.

However, the change increased our mood considerably and allowed us to enjoy the stunning views. Here is a photo of one of the nicer images, a small glacier on a steep rock surface.

The first location we visited was Mt. Suess north-east of Taylor Valley where we do most of our work. We landed about half way up the mountain, and it was a very promising location.

As we were quite far away from our base, the helicopter shut down and stayed with us while we collected some soil samples. The pilots, Jack and Dave, were kind enough to pose for a picture. The helicopter is a Bell 212, and it is a very nice helicopter to fly in.

In our usual stile we collected soil samples using a plastic scoop, and below you can see Breana about to take a sample with a view over the valley.

Dave, one of our pilots for the day came down to check on our sampling. He was very interested in how we collected our samples, and as the best way to learn is by trying it yourself, we made Dave an honorary Wormherder. As you can tell he enjoyed taking samples very much, and he did a really good job.

After we had spent about two hours at Mt. Suess, we got back into the helicopter and flew to Pegtop Mountain, which was only a couple of miles away. It was very foggy and therefore difficult to find a good spot to land the helicopter, but we got there in the end. The site was very rocky, and we were not sure we would find any soil to sample. However, we soon discovered some soil between the rocks, and after we returned to the base the soil turned out to have several species of nematodes.

Before we went home we visited one last site. This site found close to the McKelvey Valley, was very pretty, but it was very windy and it was very cold. So we collected our samples very quickly and got back into the warmer helicopter.

The flight back from this site provided us with some great views. We flew past an area know as the ‘Labyrinth’:

and one of the larger glaciers in Taylor Valley:

So we returned to our base at McMurdo after a good day in the field.

Every New Year’s in McMurdo they hold a music event called IceStock, where folks from MacTown get together and play music. Bands practice all season to perform in front of their friends and co-workers.

This year an ex-Wormherder performed with two bands. Here she is playing with Sunday Britches. Holly was a member of our team in 2004-2005 and is now a helo-tech. She’s the one in the pink wig playing the banjo!

The last band played at midnight and we all counted down to 2009. Happy New Year from the bottom of the world!!

After our long flight to the Southern Hemisphere and a night of wonderful sleep, the wormherders headed out to experience the sights and sounds of Christchurch, New Zealand. A beautiful city, Christchurch has a bustling city center filled with walking plazas and, yes indeed, many beautiful churches and colonial buildings. Here are Tracy, Uffe, Nick and Bishwo taking in one of them.

The lush River Avon winds its way throughout the city, and while on our walk along it we observed many ducks and other birds, along with groups of people enjoying the river by boat, powered by the muscle and poles of the gondoliers.

We found our way to the Botanical Gardens and enjoyed trees, plants and flowers from all over the world; from Australian Eucalyptus to California Redwoods. One of the trees, a giant cypress, was perfect for climbing, so Nick, Tracy, Uffe and Karen went up for a bird’s eye view of the last green place we would see for a while.

We’re gearing up for our next field season. Diana, Byron, Ed and Breana will all head down the day after Christmas to meet up with the Dartmouth crew. Then it will be field work lab work field work lab work with maybe a bit of eating and sleeping tossed in.

This year we have several new experiments on our list, so we’re really excited to get started. There should be lots of exciting updates, and we are pleased to announce our continued educational partnership with Froebel Alternative Education in Charlotte, Michigan. We hope to get some interesting questions from you!