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Ubiquitous microfauna - inhabiting air, water and soil


About 150 years ago, on 12. August 1855, the scientists Hermann and Adolph Schlagintweit, two brothers, filled a little bit of white, apparently quartz and mica containing sand into what they called "a cylindrical wooden box, 2½ inch in heigth, with a half-inch inner diameter". The sample container was carefully sealed, marked with inscription no. "1" and sewed into a special dense cotton cloth.

In order to properly assess the particular situation one should be aware of the fact that the third brother, Rudolph, had been killed two years before during an expedition to Kashgar, a tragic victim of local tribal conflicts.
At the moment when the vial was filled the two surviving brothers spent some thrilling hours at the Ibi Gamin Pass, in the Himalayas, about 20,000 feet in height. At this place they collected eight soil samples, including parts of the scarce vegetation. Those samples were planned to be investigated later on by the famous microlife specialist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in Berlin.

On the basis of this and some other results from comparably extreme expeditions Ehrenberg in 1859 published his fundamental article entitled "Contribution to the assessment of the stationary life in Alpine heights up to 20,000 feet". This issue will be dedicated exclusively to the famous Ehrenberg article. The term "stationary" in the title does mean that most traces of life found were considered to be stable under those extreme conditions.

Ehrenberg was not only driven by the wish to discover new microfauna species. Moreover, he was eager to confirm his theory of omnipresent micro-life, unvisible to the bare eye but nevertheless causing tremendous effects: the formation of mountains and a major contribution to the nutrition of the rest of the fauna.

Microfauna in water
In his article Ehrenberg points out that there seem to be parallels between the relatively scarce microfauna population density of the oceans and that of the Himalayas: in both cases life is not very conspicuous, sometimes invisible to the bare eye, but nevertheless omnipresent - as it will always be possible to get hold of it by special means (plankton net, microscope). Already before Ehrenberg had demonstrated that the tiny shells of fossil organisms like the   Radiolaria   can sum up to gigantic mountains. Later on, in 1851, Thomas Huxley found the corresponding living radiolaria in the Mediterranean Sea. It had been proven that microscopic organisms can cause huge effects - though in this case only as a post mortem tomb community.


[ Living Radiolaria from the Mediterranean Sea ]

Living Radiolaria from the Mediterranean Sea.
Ø ca. 0.2 mm.

Northern coast of the Corsica Island, caught by means of a plankton net in close vicinity (50 m) to the coastline.


Microfauna in the air
In his article Ehrenberg discusses the question whether the air-borne microorganisms found at those extrem heights might have simply got lost there or whether they are in fact able to persist there under harsh conditions. The tardigrade samples helped in so far as they contained all phases of tardigrade development, eggs, young animals, old animals, all of them alive - a finding which can be easiest explained by a normal continuation of the tardigrade life, also at extreme heights.

Microfauna in soil
In the sample no. 1 from the Ibi Gamin Pass Ehrenberg did find two tardigrade individuals which he named Macrobiotus eminens .


[ historical tardigrade illustration: mountain inhabitant ]

Tardigrade "Macrobiotus eminens" from the Ibi Gamin Pass (Himalayas, 20,000 feet in height).
Illustration from: C. G. Ehrenberg, Beitrag zur Bestimmung des stationären mikroskopischen Lebens in bis 20,000 Fuß Alpenhöhe. Table II. Berlin 1859.


In a similar, as well respectable height Ehrenberg found tardigrades of the genus  Milnesium  which was already presented here in detail. Remember that we discussed the   Milnesium stomach contents  ,   the eye anatomy  ,   nerves and muscles  . All this could be seen without dissecting the tardigrades, just by looking into their transparent bodies from the outside.


[ historical tardigrade illustration: mountain inhabitant  ]

Tardigrade "Acrophanes Schlagintweitii (Milnesium Schlagintweitii)" from the Milum Pass (Himalayas, 18,000 feet above sea level), in the moulting phase. Illustration from: C. G. Ehrenberg, Beitrag zur Bestimmung des stationären mikroskopischen Lebens in bis 20,000 Fuß Alpenhöhe. Table I. Berlin 1859.


[ historical tardigrade illustration: mountain inhabitant ]

Tardigrade "Acrophanes Schlagintweitii (Milnesium Schlagintweitii)".
Detail of an empty cuticula (head region with two papillae and 6 circum-oral lamellae).

Illustration from:
C. G. Ehrenberg, Beitrag zur Bestimmung des stationären mikroskopischen Lebens in bis 20,000 Fuß Alpenhöhe. Table I. Berlin 1859.


In a sample from the comparably flat ;-)  Monte Rosa Mountain Ehrenberg found the tardigrade  Macrobiotus furcatus :


[ historical tardigrade illustration: mountain inhabitant ]

Tardigrade "Macrobiotus furcatus" (from the Monte Rosa, ca. 11,000 feet in heigth).
Illustration from: C. G. Ehrenberg, Beitrag zur Bestimmung des stationären mikroskopischen Lebens in bis 20,000 Fuß Alpenhöhe. Table II. Berlin 1859.


Ehrenberg appears to be no more existent in modern encyclopedias. For good reasons: we need encyclopedia space for popular novelists, soccer celebrities, starlets, brutality actors, marriages among people of noble birth etc.
But, here in the  Water Bear web base  Ehrenberg appears already the second time. For a very human character episode just have a look  here .

See you in November !



Literature

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg: Beitrag zur Bestimmung des stationären mikroskopischen Lebens in bis 20,000 Fuß Alpenhöhe. Abhandlungen der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
p. 429 - 456, plus species list and three tables with engravings. Berlin 1859.



© Text, images and video clips by  Martin Mach  (webmaster@baertierchen.de).
Water Bear web base is a licensed and revised version of the German language monthly magazine  Bärtierchen-Journal . Style and grammar amendments by native speakers are warmly welcomed.

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