Microscopic Life in the Marsh

In my neck of the woods, things have been much wetter than usual. A sudden spike in temperatures has resulted in the rapid melting of the last frozen vestiges of winter, flooding many of the rivers, streams, and low-lying areas that cover much of the region I call home.

All sorts of life can be found taking full advantage of these freshly thawed waters and the newfound warmth of the spring sun. From the frogs on the banks of streams and ponds, to the turtles that bask in the warm sun atop logs and other floating debris, it is clear that life has returned to these marshy woods.

What is less apparent to the naked eye is that this sudden explosion of life is by no means restricted to the macroscopic forms of life, in fact, this explosion is arguably far more dramatic and impressive when viewed beneath the lens of a microscope.

Just a few drops of these murky, cool waters is enough to contain a whole host of life, with a diversity of forms and arrangements that spans multiple Kingdoms of life. On my walk, I stopped to collect two 4 oz bottles of water from a marsh to see what I could find.