Giant Vacuum to Help Bugs in Oiled Marshes?
Using huge hoses, researchers are vacuuming up marsh bugs along the oiled Gulf coast. By comparing their samples to bugs collected before the spill, teams hope to determine the effects of oil on creatures near the bottom of the food web.
Using huge hoses, researchers are vacuuming up marsh bugs along the oiled Gulf coast. By comparing their samples to bugs collected before the spill, teams hope to determine the effects of oil on creatures near the bottom of the food web.
WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF SALT MARSHES, THEY USUALLY THINK OF THE GRASSES, THE BIRDS, AND ANIMALS. BUT PEOPLE DON’T ALWAYS THINK ABOUT THE SMALLEST CREATURES LIVING THERE.
AS SCIENTISTS TRY TO MEASURE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST ACCIDENTAL OIL SPILL, SOME ARE STUDYING THE SMALLEST ANIMALS---NAMELY THE ARTHROPODS --NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN. ARTHROPODS ARE ANIMALS LIKE INSECTS, SPIDERS AND CRUSTACEANS, AND THE FOOD WEB THEY FORM IS A VITAL COMPONENT OF THIS ECOSYSTEM.
MORE THAN 200 MILLION
