Hiking With A Field Microscope

Giant Bacteria Found in Golden Gate Park Flowers...!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Secrets of a San Francisco Deck Garden

Cryptobiotic Soil Unearthed in Utah

Revealing Films of Life in a Cliff-side Seep

A Hard Life Out in the Salt Flats

Vernal Pool Fantasies

Relax in California Tide Pool

Salt Marsh Mysteries

The Big Heat

Beneath the Tufas in Mono Lake

What is a Field Microscope?

Getting Out Into the Field

Little-known Techniques of Field Photomicrography

Candid Camera

A nearby park or garden is an easy first hike with a field microscope. In addition to any ponds or streams or even fountains, there are the flowers...! Happily, Golden Gate Park is my backyard and it was an easy hike over to the Strybing Arboretum, where I visited the Bromeliads.

Bromeliads are a large family of New World plants, with over 2,700 species. Pinapple [Ananas comosus], a Bromeliad, was brought back to Spain by Columbus. Cultivated for commercial use, as well as ornamentals, Bromeliads have been spread widely to Europe, Asia, and Africa.

All Bromeliads are composed of a spiral "rosette" of leaves which creates a flattened shape to the plants. Frequently, the leaves in the spiral overlap tightly and the flattened shape is transformed into a "tank" or "cup" - as shown above. Water collects in the tank and remains, becoming a habitat supporting a community of many organisms, from bacteria to small frogs, sometimes fish, and insects.

Tank Bromeliads often live in environments that lack many mineral nutrients. Some are epiphytes, some simply live in soil with poor nutrients. The "tank", with its collect of bacteria, insects, and animals, becomes important as a reservoir for the missing nutrients. Tiny scales on the leaves called "trichomes" assist in water and nutrient uptake.

At the bottom of the food chain in the tank community are bacteria - click here to see movie showing an example of bacteria living in a tank Bromeliad. You will need a QuickTime player to see the movie. If you do not have one, you can download a free player at: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html

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Some of the bacteria are photosynthetic cyanobacteria, some are bacteria that help digest the remains of higher members of the community. Several of the very large bacteria seen in the movie are such "digesters". In particular are characteristic "giants" shown below.

You can learn more on the "Bromeliad Tank Dwellers Database" at:
http://fcbs.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=TankDwellers&uid=default

Other bacteria...

and even protozoa are often found. Click here to see a movie of some other bacteria. Use <Back> to return to this page.