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Need Help with Glacier Ice Worms in August!


paulahartzell

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This summer has been very cool for me -- I've been on glaciers throughout the U.S. and Canada since June 5th, and will stay in the field until August 20th. I'm collecting data for my doctoral dissertation in glacial ecology, focusing on the phylogeography of ice worms -- But I've got a problem! There's only one of me. I REALLY need help from other climbers who will be out on the glaciers during the month of August.

Glacier ice worms (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) are the only Oligochates in the world that live in ice, and they live right here in the Pacific Northwest. Learning about these creatures not only will tell us more about our regional environment, but learn about their unique adaptations to frequent freeze-thaw events, high UV exposure (potentially with effective DNA repair mechanisms), their geographic and ecological origins, as well as the opportunity to test molecular rates of evolution.

August is the best month for ice worms. They appear as pieces of black string, 3/4 to 1" long. You most often see them in the shade of late afternoon or evening, and you'll find them in glacial pools, streams, snow, firn, and even blue ice. (We don't really know how the mechanism they use to move through the ice yet.)

If you're out on the ice this summer, bring out a small leak-proof container with some alcohol in it -- rubbing alcohol works just fine -- and if you see some ice worms, save me 10 to 25 of them. (They occur in densities of 100 to 11,000 per square meter, so this should be okay -- and indeed, has been determined 'No Effect.) Mark the date and location collected on the container, and send them to the contact address below.

I will be happy to acknowledge individual or organizational contributions in subsequent publications, as well as to shair our results. Let me know if you are interested in receiving any future reports.

I've found at least three glaciers this summer where ice worms had been in the past, but are gone now. It is important that we document this species, as its habitat is quickly shrinking!

Thanks for your support. I really need your help on this!

Paula Hartzell

Biology Department

Clark University

950 Main Street

Worcester, MA 01610

phartzell@clarku.edu, paulahartzell@hotmail.com

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Come on, Dru. You know worms don't crawl, they slither.

 

Paula: question: you said you were on a glacier where the worms once were but are now gone. How do you know this? Do they leave feces traces, etc.?

 

I will keep an eye out for your little oligochate friends next month. I may even go out on the Depot and/or Redoubt glaciers.

 

---Paul

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Iain laughed when I scooped a bunch to bring home and keep as pets in my freezer! Or at least I considered it, couldn't think of what to feed the buggers, so I left 'em.

 

The glaciers around Eldorado were covered in them. It was the first time I realized what I was looking at.

 

I'll see what I can do next time I'm out. What do they eat anyway?

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Hal_Burton said:

Iain laughed when I scooped a bunch to bring home and keep as pets in my freezer! Or at least I considered it, couldn't think of what to feed the buggers, so I left 'em.

 

The glaciers around Eldorado were covered in them. It was the first time I realized what I was looking at.

 

I'll see what I can do next time I'm out. What do they eat anyway?

Human flesh. shocked.gif
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Hal_Burton said:

What do they eat anyway?

I think they eat algae in the snowpack, and other detritus that blows in on the glacier. They rise and fall within the ice, coming to the surface in early evening, from what I understand.

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the real question is this project going to be used to limit human/ ie climbers access to areas where the worms are thought to be endangered?

 

kinda like that cliff study in onterio, where they were using the data to get climbing cliffs closed.

 

more for personal gain then the benefit of the any spieces.

 

 

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as far as I can tell there's nothing endangered about these suckers. we were looking across the McAllister glacier and what I thought was a streak of dirt on the snow was actually wormapalooza 2003.

 

p.s. it is amusing when you pee on them accidently and they writhe around for a few minutes.

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Ok now a serious question for paula hartzell

 

you say "three glaciers now dont have them that used to"

 

how do you prove the absence? how many observations and in how much detail does it take to prove something no longer exists? confused.gif

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Dru said:

Ok now a serious question for paula hartzell

 

you say "three glaciers now dont have them that used to"

 

how do you prove the absence? how many observations and in how much detail does it take to prove something no longer exists? confused.gif

 

Dru, I already asked this question. rolleyes.gif Albeit, she hasn't answered yet, so maybe if we team up on her. Maybe I'll send her a friendly email to find out as she's probably already put off by the spray banter in this thread.

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