The World of Nematodes

We’ve had a nasty storm here the last few days. It started Wednesday, with blowing snow. Soon we had a LOT of snow, and all flights have been canceled. Ross, Diana, Byron, Breana and Ed are stuck in McMurdo, while Becky, Poage, and Elizabeth are stuck out at various camps in Taylor Valley.

It’s very frustrating, because we’re getting behind more and more every day. We’re only here for a short amount of time, and sitting around McMurdo is not our idea of fun. We decided to take a team picture in the snow, looking rugged and very “Antarctic.”

Cheers from McMurdo Station!

Despite all the extra ground time we got on Saturday, we didn’t get to water the BEE plots as we had planned. So, Ed and Breana flew back out to the south side of Lake Bonney with another 80 lbs of water to finish the job. The weather was nice, which makes working easier. We finished quickly and were able to be picked up early.

Ed and Breana on the west lobe of Lake Bonney, in front of Taylor Glacier

The unusual lightening bolt shaped mark on the mountain is an example of one of the many geological features that intrigue scientists like Bruce Marsh and his research group (called the Marsh-ians!) who study magma dynamics here in Antarctica. This formation is visible from our worm plots at Lake Bonney.

While we were at Bonney, Ed took a photo of the soil near the helicopter pad. The soil is sandy, and covered with rocks and pebbles. The rock can be really pretty, ranging in color from yellow to pink to green to black. In moist, productive areas, algae grows on the surface of the soil, between the rocks. Sometimes we collect this microalgae really carefully with a spoon and bring it back to the lab to see how much chlorophyll a is contained in the sample. Chlorophyll a is produced by photosynthetic organisms, and is a good measure of production in an environment where we don’t have vascular plants.

The soil here tends to be cold and dry, which is not a great habitat for most soil animals. We find more animals in areas near streams and lakes, where the soil is moist and there is moss or algae present. However, the most ubiquitous nematode in the Dry Valleys, Scottnema lindsayae, prefers drier, saltier soils than the other organisms living here, and it is found throughout the region. If the climate warms and the soils become warmer and wetter, this could be bad for poor Scottnema, but good for many of the other soil animals.

Today was the Scott’s Hut Race, a 5 mile race that starts and ends at the Chapel of the Snows. The runners head up the hill, then to Hut Point, back up the road (all uphill!) to the sign for Scott Base, back down to the Hut, and then to the chapel. It’s NOT an easy race. This year Byron and Ed represented the Wormherders. They did a really great job!

Way to go Ed!

Great job Byron!

Before going out to treat the stoichiometry plots on the south side of Lake Bonney, we had to refill all our solution jugs. There are 33 of them. They take up most of the hallway.

The carboys weigh 25 lbs each. We were not enthusiastic about hauling them around again, but we are tough. We are Antarctic Wormherders! Due to some unscheduled extra ground time (sometimes the helicopters can’t pick us up when we want them to, so we are at the mercy of their schedule, but they try to be fair) we decided to also treat the BEE plots with water and change the chambers (more on this later). This meant 80 lbs more water, and someone was going to get bumped off the trip because we were too heavy for the helicopter to carry. We chose the smallest person: Diana. Poor Diana!

In the end, Breana, Byron, and Ed flew to the west lobe of Lake Bonney to take care of two experiments at once. We are multi-taskers. The weather was prohibitive - we sat in the helicopter terminal for two hours waiting for it to clear up enough for us to fly. We got to Lake Bonney eventually, but it was very cold and windy. AFter we offloaded all our gear, the helicopter took off and promised to come back to get us in 7 hours. Seven hours at cold Lake Bonney! Luckily we had 33 jugs of water and some equipment to lug up to our plots, so we worked up a good sweat during the first hour of work.

Clouds over the Kukri Hills

Helipad at Lake Bonney with Wormherder gear in the background

As with the stoichiometry plots at F6 we sampled the soil first and then poured the solutions on the plots. Byron and Ed sampled while Breana directed, but she got so cold she decided to sample too! It took an hour to sample all 56 plots. Then Byron and Breana added solutions while Ed refilled their pouring jugs. We were all very cold by this time, and one of the best ways to fight hypothermia is to make sure you eat a lot and drink plenty of liquids. The thing about the south side of the west lobe of Lake Bonney is that there is no camp. No hut to escape to for a hot cup of tea. Not even a tent to hide in if the wind picks up. For this reason it’s important to make your own heat by exercising, eating, or drinking.

Ed eats a chocolate bar to keep up his strength

This didn’t work very well for Breana. She was really cold all day, and there was much discussion about whether or not she would have survived the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. About one hundred years ago, men risked their lives trying to reach the south pole, and explored Antarctica in the name of science and adventure. We decided Byron was the only one of us who would have been tough enough for Shackleton, Scott, Mawson or Amundsen. Look at this guy! He’s still smiling after all that work! He’s not even tired!

After finishing the stoichiometry experiment, we changed out all the chambers on the BEE plots. These chambers act as greenhouses, increasing the heat of the soil surface by two degrees Celsius. They have to be properly tethered down to avoid blowing away in a winter storm, and they get beat up in the wind. Every few years we replace the bungee cords, harnesses and chambers with new ones to prevent loss of the chambers and to make sure they are working properly.

BEE plots

The helicopter finally arrived, nearly 8 hours after leaving us out there. On the way back to McMurdo, Ed and Breana fell asleep in the helicopter. Byron took pictures the whole way home.

We study nematodes. Nematodes live in the soil. In order to count them and identify them, we have to get them OUT of the soil, efficiently and quickly, taking care not to kill or injure them. This is not easy, but we are professionals.

First we weigh out the fresh soil (we also weigh out a bit to put in the drying oven to determine soil moisture) into a plastic tri-pour container. This is typically Ed’s job.

Then we give the nematodes a bath. We add water to the soil, stir it gently, pour it through a set of sieves (the top sieve catches the large soil particles, the bottom sieve catches the nematodes and fine silts and clays) and wash them into a centrifuge tube. Diana and Breana like this job the most.

The tube containing the sample is centrifuged for five minutes. This is Byron’s job. Centrifuging forces all the worms and remaining soil into the bottom of the tube, creating a pellet. The liquid is poured off into a waste jar, saturated sugar water is added to the tube and it is mixed. Nematodes do not like the sugar, and they become suspended in the thick liquid. The tube is centrifuged again, this time only for a minute. All the soil is spun into the bottom of the tube, and the nematodes are floating in the sugar water.

The tube is passed back to Breana or Diana, who pour the liquid through another fine screen, carefuly not to get any of the soil from the bottom of the tube onto the screen. The nematodes are washed gently with water and into another tube. This technique allows us to get a clean sample. That way, when we are looking under the microscope, we don’t have to move soil particles out of the way to see the soil animals (along with nematodes, we also find tardigrades, rotifers and the occasional mite). At the scope, we count the number of each species that we find, including whether they are male, female, or juvenile, and whether they are dead or alive.

The only problem with this method is that it creates a lot of washing up to do. Luckily, Ed is VERY good at washing dishes, and also at stacking them so that they all fit on the drying table. He is the only person who can do this without toppling them over. perhaps he missed his calling as an architect?

Today Diana, Byron, Ed and Breana flew in a Bell 212 helicopter out to the F6 camp, on the edge of Lake Fryxell. Lake Fryxell is the easternmost lake in Taylor Valley and is surrounded by several productive streams that we have sampled in the past for soil animals, moss and algae. Many of our core MCM LTER projects are located in this lake basin, and it is typically considered the most productive place in Taylor Valley.

On the way to F6

Ed and Breana on the helicopter

F6 is a small fixed camp, with a permanent hut containing kitchen and lab facilities. Typically this camp is used and managed by the stream team, who work with Diane McKnight from CU-Boulder. This year the team consists of Nate, Andrew, and Lee.

The folks at F6 sleep in tents outside, in full view of the lake and the glaciers. The hut is solar powered.

We were there to sample and treat our stoichiometry experiment. This is a large core experiment we set up last year to investigate the effects of nutrient additions on the soil ecology. We set up 56 plots at F6 and on the south side of Lake Bonney. We also have a small side project here, where we sterilized soils and placed them back into the field in fine mesh bags (pantyhose, actually) to see how fast they would become colonized by soil organisms.

First, we had a snack and a hot drink.

Then Byron and Diana sampled the Stoichiometry plots while Ed measured soil respiration at the Sterilization Experiment. Diana and Byron used ITEX chambers (used in our warming experiments, they increase surface soil temperature) to make sure that they were sampling in the right spot. We use these as “templates” for sampling and treating these plots.

Ed measures respiration with a device that connects to the soil with a respiration collar and records CO₂ flux.

Then, Byron and Breana added the nutrient solutions to all 48 treatment plots by pouring solutions from jugs into an area marked with an ITEX chamber as a “template”

A skua visited us while we sampled. Mostly it was interested in rooting through our things searching for potential snacks. Skua are quite well known scavengers, and can pick a sandwich right out of your hands. A few years ago a survival cache exploded in a winter storm, and bits of granola, chocolate bars, dehydrated meals, etc. flew all over the Fryxell basin. We found the remnants that summer, and there were only wrappers left. Certainly the skua is waiting - hoping - for a similar windfall.

After all that work, we were exhausted and took a nap while waiting for our helicopter. We take so much gear into the field for this experiment that we weighed over 1800 lbs. After carting all that water around, you’d be tired too!

We’re in McMurdo for New Year’s Eve. We’ve been busy setting up the lab, collecting our gear and equipment, and getting ready for our field season. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a good time!

Every Year McMurdo puts on Icestock, a music festival and chili cook-off. Lots of bands performed this year. It was really cold, so the crowd was a bit small, but it was very festive! Byron’s pick for favorite chili was made by the McMurdo fire fighters. This is not entirely coincidental.

Happy New Year from Antarctica!!

We arrived at the CDC at 2:15 a.m. as scheduled, dressed in our ECW, went through security and waited for the plane. At 5:00 a.m. they allowed us to pile onto a bus, which drove us out to the C-17. We packed ourselves in and waited for the plane to take off.

And we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After 6:00 a.m. we were put back on the bus, shuttled back to the CDC and asked to wait. The plane was broken. They would know soon if we were going to go at all. So we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

At 8:30 a.m. we were told that the plane was definitely broken, and to come back tomorrow. So we left, a bit disappointed, but Byron and Breana were hopeful that they would have their luggage by December 30th. As we arrived at the hotel, the manager greeted us by shouting, “No! No! You’re all going back! If you’re not there in 10 minutes the plane leaves without you!” After much confusion we all pile back into the shuttle, desperate not to miss our flight. We returned to the CDC, dressed as quickly as possible, shoved things into our bags, and went through security a second time. Breana spotted her bag in a pile of things delivered from Qantas that afternoon. Byron was not so lucky.

We were on the plane and into the air within an hour. Five hours later, we were in McMurdo. From the ice runway we ride in a giant bus to McMurdo. The bus is called Ivan the Terra Bus, and it’s a large tire vehicle specifically for shuttling people to and from the runway on the ice road. Tracked vehicles are much more suitable for ice roads, but the terra bus has such large tires that it compensates for the weight of the vehicle. Unfortunately, Ivan is incredibly slow (joggers passed us!!) and it seems to take forever to get to McMurdo.

Here are Byron, Diana and Ed on the terra bus, happy to be in MacTown but also really, really tired. Here’s to an awesome season!!! Go Wormherders!

Diana, Breana and Ed left home on December 26th, met up with each other (and several other scientists in route to Antarctica!) in Los Angelos, California, and boarded a flight to Aukland, New Zealand. Unfortunately, Byron was delayed in Salt Lake City, Utah, and had to come on a later flight. We missed him very much! The flight takes approximately 14 hours, and it leaves L.A. at night, so that the flight staff can feed us and put us to bed. If you can’t sleep on the flight, each seat has it’s own television, and you can watch movies, television, listen to the radio, or even play video games!

We try to get as much sleep as possible on the flight, because we arrive in New Zealand at 6:00 a.m. (we skip a day, because we cross the international date line) and have to get our luggage, go through customs, walk to the other terminal, and board another plane. New Zealand is comprised of a north and south island, and we need to get to the south island in order to pick up our gear and fly to McMurdo.

Once we landed in Christchurch, we headed to the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) to try on our extreme cold weather (ECW) gear. All people flying to Antarctica are required to wear their ECW gear. We are issued thermal underwear, wool socks, various gloves, mittens, and hats, wind pants, fleece pants, a fleece jacket, a neck gator, goggles, bunny boots, a wind jacket (we call it “little red”) and a large parka (we call it “big red”). All of this gear will keep us warm in Antarctica, but it’s SUMMER in New Zealand right now, so waiting for a plane in your ECW gear can get VERY hot.

Our deployment time is 2:15 a.m. which we all think is fairly ridiculous. Why even bother going to sleep? Byron finally arrived this evening, but neither he nor Breana have received their luggage from Qantas. If it doesn’t get here by 2:00 a.m., the next scheduled flight is for January 2, 2008, so they will be without their luggage for a while! Neither of them are very happy about this.

But by tomorrow we will be in Antarctica! Hooray!

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!