debor042

by Nick Schulte* I think Fragilaria synegrotesca is a cute diatom. Although long and lanky (nothing wrong with that!), F. synegrotesca has an adorable, sometimes very slight, potbelly (Fig. 1).                    Fig. 1 . a)  Live frustules in a rosette colony ( http://fcelter.fiu.edu/data/database/diatom/index.htm?species=3568 )   b) Fragilaria synegrotesca  in valve view (Schulte 2014). Now, some boring diatomist (e.g., me ) might describe that little bump in the middle right as “a unilaterally expanded, hyaline central margin” and that’s accurate enough. But I also like to think of it as F. synegrotesca ’s belly pooch. It brings to my mind the potbellies of seahorses, pigs, puppies and toddlers, and it seems very boop-able. But let’s move past the physical attributes of this diatom, as the allure of this species is in its “actions”. Fragilaria synegrotesca has so far only been reported from karstic wetlands of t...

I hope all your brackets are ready because it's game time for the Round of 64! If you're running a bit behind and need some input on how to fill out your bracket: basically, just choose whichever organism you think has a greater effect on the Everglades in the head-to-head matchups. Once you determine who wins the first two matches, you'll then choose which organism out of those two teams wins in the next round, etc. You can determine winners based on a cost-benefit analysis that isn't necessarily limited by the two organisms' real-life interactions... or you can be more partial and pick your favorite. After all, it's YOUR votes that matter. I've attached 4 polls to this page, one for each group in the bracket. You'll notice that the organisms are arranged by how they appear in the bracket (i.e. the organism underneath the first is playing the first organism, as it is throughout). You should vote multiple times on the poll (i.e. click multiple boxes): on...

With the NCAA basketball tournament and "bracketology" in full swing, I figured we should see how the Everglades would match up in a tournament of champions: MarSh Madness! I admit that this is inspired by the brilliant Mammal March Madness , and it in no way compares to the breadth and depth with which those folks are simulating a mammal combat competition of probabilities! But let's just throw out a bracket of our favorite Everglades inhabitants. Mammal March Madness has 4 categories, with the winners of each advancing to the semifinals. In the Everglades, I'm keeping with that, with categories for Vertebrates; Invertebrates; Primary Producers, etc. (etc. for a couple of add-ons, floc and soil microbes); and Invasives . I imagine that the vertebrates/invertebrates would advance based on abilities like trophic level, aggressiveness, adaptations, resilience, and "special skills". Primary producers, etc. would be categorized by the likes of competitiveness, c...

The end of low-mosquito camping season is nigh, and that's got me thinking about campfires and - a natural progression - campfire songs . And what better songs to sing in the Everglades than songs about the Everglades? In this series of posts I'll introduce you to some of my favorites, starting with: "Everglades" by The Kingston Trio: About a man who killed someone in a jealous fight and fled to the Everglades, where "a man can hide and never be found." Makes you think twice about doing some fieldwork out there. Turns out a judge ruled he acted in self defense, and he was hiding out for no reason (brings to mind "Dust On My Saddle" done by Seals & Crofts) - but he didn't know that (and his girl got tired of waiting - but, thankfully, that's not the focus of the song!). I'm thinking "if the skeeters [didn't] get him then the gators [did]." This is the song my dad told me I needed to learn before I came down here for my...