Field Trip: The Search for Tardigrades!

Tomorrow I plan on searching the Rio Grande Valley for Tardigrades. I found a paper yesterday by Clark W. Beasley that documents found species here in New Mexico at various altitudes. From what I read it seems like there are plenty in the ABQ altitude range and hopefully I have no problem locating them.

This is no easy feat when you consider that they are microscopic, but I have a secret. I know where they live. Apparently they like to hide out in moss and lichen so I want to collect a bunch of samples to see if I can spring them loose. There are some methods in the paper linked above that describe how to go about extraction. According to their methods, you moisten the moss/lichen for a while and then shake vigorously (I’m not joking!). After that you need to use a micropipette, for extraction and preparation for sample analysis. I don’t think I care about that and will instead focus on just bathing them in D2O from that point on.

I’m planning on collecting a bunch of samples and will probably walk along the Rio Grande Bike Trail (I figure the best chance of moss and lichen is near the only water source in ABQ) extracting samples. Of course I’m winging this, but it should be a fun adventure to say the least.

Here is the map for the access points I will most likely take:

Access Points Map  If you click the link you can go to actual Google Maps and in the options select bicycling and it will show you the bike paths in ABQ. The dark green path near the access points that follows the Rio Grande is where I’ll be.