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By: Ximena Mazariegos Summary. Ice worms are quite mysterious considering how only about a half-dozen researchers have studied these worms. Ice worms are found in the Northwest Glaciers and grow to be only about an inch long. High-altitude glaciers are not considered hotspots for living creatures, they are usually barren of life. That is why finding these ice worms living in the glaciers was astonishing, but despite the fact the ice worms live in the glaciers, they can actually die if the temperature goes below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). Since not much research has been done on these ice worms, we have no idea how they reproduce or what role they play in the ecosystem. According to Scott Hotaling, a researcher at Washington State University, winter might be the season where they can increase their energy stores on account of the fact that they are larger than when they first emerge in early spring. We do not know exactly what their diet consists of, but we think they survive off snow algae and bacteria. Researchers also hypothesize that they survive winter by burrowing under the snow. As I stated before, researchers still do not know how ice worms reproduce but seeing how they find smaller worms during the summer they assume the ice worms hatch somewhere before that. During the summer, the worms surface to the top when the sun is less intense, but we still do not know why they surface. We do know that they can withstand extremely elevated levels of ultraviolet light according to researcher Hotaling. There are still many unanswered questions about ice worms, they have gone unnoticed for far too long, but more research is being done to find out more about these creatures and what role they play in their ecosystem. Why we should care? There are so many things we do not know about these ice worms. We don't know what role they play in the ecosystem, we basically know nothing of them. Digging deeper could lead us to finding more biodiversity that we are unaware of.  Photo Credit: https://news.yahoo.com/happening-ice-worms-emerge-pacific-203933331.html Example Article. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/13/1011376403/its-summer-and-that-means-the-mysterious-return-of-glacier-ice-worms I found this particular article interesting because it talked about the return of the mysterious ice worms. I had no idea they existed, so I was intrigued from their word usage "return". This article stood out too because it mentioned something about biodiversity which we learned about in class. It goes over the hypotheses of how the ice worms reproduce, what they eat, and how they survive. It also stood out that the article talked about how ice worms could withstand high levels of ultraviolet light. I felt like this article included the most information than the others I had looked at. Science in Action.
Dr. Scott Hotaling is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Washington State University. Scott Hotaling’s research centers around the understanding of organisms living in cold places and how they have adapted to it, but it also focuses on the future of these organisms considering how climate change is affecting them or is going to affect them. I believe this research is relevant to my blog because ice worms are organisms that live in a cold climate and can and will be affected by climate change. Climate change is already melting glaciers, and this is the type of research Hotaling focuses on. He is already working on finding out more about these ice worms since they are a complete mystery to us right now.
16 Comments
Katy Millican
9/23/2021 10:08:24
It’s crazy the kind of conditions life can adapt to! I think it's really cool that somehow a worm with little to no body mass can survive in low temperatures like this! This is definitely a good example of an organism evolving to fit into a niche to survive.
Emma Jablonski
9/23/2021 10:25:30
Hello Ximena,
Lindsey Wheaton
9/23/2021 10:46:18
It's really weird to me that these worms are able to survive in such cold conditions. I think it's really cool that there are species we know so little about, as well as ones we haven't even discovered yet. It always makes me wonder how many organisms are existing in different ecosystems that we don't know about. I hope we find out more about these worms. 9/23/2021 11:37:55
When you mentioned the worms feed on snow algae, I had to look into this. I have never heard of ice worms or snow algae before this. I found beautiful photos of red snow algae in Antarctica, it grows on perma-ice and is completely adapted to live in cold climates. It is worrying to think as our glaciers are melting, the carbon sequestration that the algae achieves will be lost.
Riley StLedger
9/23/2021 12:04:35
It was really interesting to read this article because I had no idea ice worms even existed. It's crazy that they can live in glaciers and only survive as long as the temperature is at least 32 degrees. It's even crazier to think that over 5 billion worms can live in one glacier!
Juliana Witt
9/23/2021 13:13:38
This story is very interesting. Who would've thought there is another organism that can live in such cold temperatures and went unnoticed for so long. It really shows that we really don't know everything about the Earth. I liked you comment about why the ice worms matter and why we should care. You said that since we know nothing about them we don't know how their deaths could affect the world in the long run. I think that is important with every new species and species that is on the planet. Who knows what impact they could have in the long run. With that, having the glaciers melt and destroying that ecosystem we need to protect it so we can study the meanings of all organisms. Any creature regardless of size could leave a huge imprint on the Earth. I'm excited to hear about the effects of these resilient creatures in the future and what they could be doing to alter ecosystems. 9/23/2021 17:31:07
I thought this article was particularly interesting because I never knew of ice worms. Ice worms live off of algae and bacteria which can be good for the environment. Who knows what Cheers to diseases or medical breakthroughs ice worms could contribute to mankind. A further study of the species would be good for scientific knowledge. Ice worms ability to withstand ultraviolet light could prove useful in some type of human application. Scientists have just recently discovered the ice worm. The ice worm cannot live in temperatures under 32 degrees, which makes it a water worms to me. 9/23/2021 18:26:59
When scrolling through the blogs, the title of this post caught my eye because I had never heard of ice worms. Similar to what you said, the ice worms are another example of the many features of biodiversity humans have yet to discover. It's cool how ice worms live off of snow algae. I am always interested to learn about new organisms, so this article was enjoyable to read.
Cameron Cornellier
9/25/2021 18:05:05
Definitely an interesting article. Considering that we do not have a lot of information about these worms, it will be interesting to learn more about the role that they play in their ecosystem. I wonder if they are a prey for a larger animal, and I wonder what the "larger animal" fed on when the worms were unavailable. The worms feeding off of algae would make sense and provide an energy source for them to survive off of in a cold climate. It will be fascinating to discover other behaviors and properties of these worms.
Ben Feld
9/26/2021 14:21:50
This is crazy?! Little worms living in glaciers that eat something but we don't know what? I think research into these should be studied before all the glaciers melt. Especially because this could give us a clue on extraterrestrial life. I also wonder if there is a cold limit to their existence, like how they can't survive above freezing point, can they also not survive under an extreme temperature? I guess we'll find out one day.
Buck Patrick
9/27/2021 13:22:05
Hey Ximena, I really enjoyed reading this. I never even knew that ice worms existed until now. It is so interesting that they can survive on giant glaciers. I also didn't know that snow bacteria and algae existed. I will have to give this subject more research. Thanks for writing this, it was a well written blog post.
Alexis Potoff
9/27/2021 17:15:49
Part of what makes this blog post so interesting is that so little is known about these worms. It seems like it would be a fun project to do research on and develop hypotheses about because it is so new. However, I am mildly confused about the part where it said that the worms could die in temperatures lower than 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Is that not the temperature that water freezes at? So I am assuming that it is always around that temperature in a glacier. Either way, very interesting to read.
Jacob Philip
9/27/2021 22:26:27
Great article choice Ximena! It was really interesting to learn about these ice worms as they were something I did not previously know existed. I am curious to see what scientific findings will come from further research into these creatures and how they will interact with the changing ecosystem around them.
Jackson Gifford
9/27/2021 22:31:32
I find it so interesting that there are still so many species left undiscovered and forms of life we don't yet understand. Not only does this go to show our ignorance to the many unknowns about our planet, but it also emphasizes how many elements of the biosphere we unknowingly impact with our activity.
Patrick Carlson
9/27/2021 23:06:24
Its crazy to think about how many lifeforms and organisms can survive in extreme conditions. Makes you wonder whats going to happen to pathogens and diseases frozen after hundreds of thousands of years suddenly reemerging after remaining dormant. Scary thoughts!
Alex Leh
11/2/2021 22:42:03
A wise man once said, "life, uhh, finds a way," and I cant think of a better testament than this discovery. Tiny little wprms have somehow evolved to exploit the insulative properties of ice for a home! With creatures like these and tardigrades I fear that the first time we discover "aliens" its just gonna be contamination from previous missions! Leave a Reply. |
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