Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

About the shape and function of different specimens
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Sure Squintsalot
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Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#1 Post by Sure Squintsalot » Sun May 28, 2023 9:45 pm

It only rains here about 20cm in any given year, often less. Recently, though, it's rained more than usual here in the high desert and when then that happens things green up dramatically, the rocks get wet, and some of those divots and depressions fill with water. Not expecting to see much of anything, I sampled the water thinking that I'd see maybe a few algaes and a larva or two. Boy was I surprised.
Sandia Mountain foothills and recent greening due to rains.
Sandia Mountain foothills and recent greening due to rains.
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Rock pools are sometimes called "potholes"; they're bowl-shaped depressions in the rock that fill with water when it rains, then quickly dry up afterwards. Exposed water doesn't last very long around here, so I pretty had to keep my eye out on where in the hills it had recently dumped, then run in, find me a rock pool, and grab a sample.
Screenshot 2023-05-28 153037.jpg
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I kept it simple: One sample of the water itself, one sample of the crud on the edges, and a sample just below the sediment layer in the middle of the pool. Almost nothing is known about the biology of such rock pools and the questions these things raise in terms of evolutionary biology are also pretty fascinating.
Screenshot 2023-05-28 153512.jpg
Screenshot 2023-05-28 153512.jpg (275.51 KiB) Viewed 6049 times
Interested? Here a short video:

PeteM
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#2 Post by PeteM » Sun May 28, 2023 11:24 pm

Excellent video - thanks for the skill and time to make it.

Tom Jones
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#3 Post by Tom Jones » Mon May 29, 2023 4:10 am

Very nice!!

Phill Brown
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#4 Post by Phill Brown » Mon May 29, 2023 8:08 am

Lovely clear images with no mention of the hours of cleaning glass.

Hobbyst46
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#5 Post by Hobbyst46 » Mon May 29, 2023 8:19 am

A beautiful presentation ! of the scenery and sample.

Questions:
1. Details of microscope, camera etc ?
2. The inside of most or all of the rotifers includes a bright red corpuscle. Was it fluorescence (combined with DF) ? the leaky crushed rotifer was devoid of that red stain.
3. Were the green circles micro algae ?

Sure Squintsalot
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#6 Post by Sure Squintsalot » Wed May 31, 2023 6:56 pm

Hobbyst46 wrote:
Mon May 29, 2023 8:19 am
A beautiful presentation ! of the scenery and sample.

Questions:
1. Details of microscope, camera etc ?
2. The inside of most or all of the rotifers includes a bright red corpuscle. Was it fluorescence (combined with DF) ? the leaky crushed rotifer was devoid of that red stain.
3. Were the green circles micro algae ?
Yes, it is pretty... darkfield well slide observation is visually cool and quickly becoming a favorite, though I'm not a fan of the post-processing work that goes into making a video. Here's a few answers to your questions:

1. Nikon Optiphot w/ direct projection to a Sony Nex5 camera, processed in DaVinci Resolve.
2. No fluorescence dyes were used and I do not know what that red stuff is though I've seen it elsewhere in the internets. Interestingly, I can see these rotifers in my water sample and they have a rust-red color. When I take it out of the fridge, there's a rust colored sludge at the bottom that gets redistributed as the water warms up. Yes, that leaking rotifer has no red goo coming out of it and, again, it's a total mystery to me.
3. My guess is that those green circles are algaes of some kind but that's according to the few papers I've read on the topic with few actual photos to reference. Rock pools are home to many species of cyanobacteria; probably shouldn't surprise me if that's what they are.

Hobbyst46
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#7 Post by Hobbyst46 » Wed May 31, 2023 7:06 pm

Sure Squintsalot wrote:
Wed May 31, 2023 6:56 pm
...2. No fluorescence dyes were used and I do not know what that red stuff is though I've seen it elsewhere in the internets. Interestingly, I can see these rotifers in my water sample and they have a rust-red color. When I take it out of the fridge, there's a rust colored sludge at the bottom that gets redistributed as the water warms up. Yes, that leaking rotifer has no red goo coming out of it and, again, it's a total mystery to me....
Thanks. I did not mean to suggest that the dyes were used. Rather I thought of natural fluorescence - chlorophyll maybe ? Does the rotifer consume algae ?

Javier
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#8 Post by Javier » Wed May 31, 2023 8:18 pm

I missed this one!

This is an amazing and very complete register. Thanks for sharing!

Sure Squintsalot
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#9 Post by Sure Squintsalot » Thu Jun 01, 2023 5:02 am

Back in the foothills for a hike when I ran across this dried up rock pool:
Screenshot 2023-05-31 225054.jpg
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Adding to the fact that I'll never look at these things the same way again, I was struck by how much sediment had collected at the bottom. This is a pretty sheltered location that doesn't see a lot of wind kicking up sand and dirt. This would mean that most of that sediment is the result of chemical weathering of the granite occurring when the pool is wet, specifically, as it's drying out. It also looks like something rather large is actually living in that sediment. I bet it probably tastes pretty good with all that rotifer jerky and sun-dried cyanobacterial salad
Screenshot 2023-05-31 225125.jpg
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My goal this summer will be to find that rock pool exposed to the most hellish conditions, collect the containing sediment, rehydrate it, and see what turns up.

Should be fun!!

Hobbyst46
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#10 Post by Hobbyst46 » Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:45 am

Granite itself, when eroded and disintegrated by the elements, forms beautiful and rich sand, where the three main components - quartz, feldspar and mica - are separated. Fun looking with and without polarized light.

Sure Squintsalot
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#11 Post by Sure Squintsalot » Sat Jul 22, 2023 3:16 pm

Sure Squintsalot wrote:
Thu Jun 01, 2023 5:02 am
My goal this summer will be to find that rock pool exposed to the most hellish conditions, collect the containing sediment, rehydrate it, and see what turns up.

Should be fun!!
Ok...it was decidely NOT fun.
It took about 4 hours in two tries in 100­­­­ degrees afternoons to even find this thing.
Screenshot 2023-07-22 090732.jpg
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Screenshot 2023-07-22 090621.jpg
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Screenshot 2023-07-22 090859.jpg
Screenshot 2023-07-22 090859.jpg (265.29 KiB) Viewed 4722 times
Some pretty cool surprises in here!


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blekenbleu
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#12 Post by blekenbleu » Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:11 pm

Sure Squintsalot wrote:
Sat Jul 22, 2023 3:16 pm
Ok...it was decidedly NOT fun.
Thanks, that was very enjoyable.
Metaphot, Optiphot 1, 66; AO 10, 120, EPIStar, Cycloptic

Phill Brown
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#13 Post by Phill Brown » Fri Jul 28, 2023 9:02 am

Excellent.

charlie g
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#14 Post by charlie g » Fri Jul 28, 2023 9:26 pm

Thank you for this microscopy field project, 'sure squint'...very enchanting and so relevant to harsh changes in our biomes now upon us.

I really was drawn along with you questions which emerge as we observe the habitats microscopy. Wonderful microscopy sharing .

That terrain is harsh! But I wish I could take my refractor telescope to that area for a weekend of dark skies. all the best, charlie g

Sure Squintsalot
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#15 Post by Sure Squintsalot » Sat Jul 29, 2023 5:01 pm

charlie g wrote:
Fri Jul 28, 2023 9:26 pm
That terrain is harsh! But I wish I could take my refractor telescope to that area for a weekend of dark skies. all the best, charlie g
I sold my 4.5in reflector because I was so frustrated at waiting for good seeing. The air here is dry and clear but there are many nights with weird temperature layers and high winds. It all makes for surprisingly few nights of good viewing!

Hobbyst46
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#16 Post by Hobbyst46 » Sat Jul 29, 2023 8:41 pm

Great study and very appropriate music. Thanks !

macnmotion
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#17 Post by macnmotion » Sun Jul 30, 2023 4:49 am

Just watched this. Really great presentation and imaging.

PeteM
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#18 Post by PeteM » Sun Jul 30, 2023 5:29 am

Really nice done. Thanks for taking them time to create and share this.

Sure Squintsalot
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#19 Post by Sure Squintsalot » Mon Jul 31, 2023 4:28 am

Glad people enjoyed this movie.

I've learned that the difficulty in making these things is taking the time to do a little research, which often ends up in dozens of hours spent finding, reading, and learning about this amazing stuff.

KI4THC
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Re: Life in a High Desert Rock Pool? Surprise!!

#20 Post by KI4THC » Wed Sep 20, 2023 6:04 pm

I just came across this. Amazingly nice work! Thank you!

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