Today, I attended BioBlitz at the New York Botanical Garden, and to my surprise, I recorded data of the one organism that cannot be seen by the naked eye: microbes. Instead of spending the entire time trying to observe microbes, we broke up into groups and collected samples of soil and dirt from three different locations within the garden. I also helped describe what the various soils looked like, but I was mostly in charge of taking pictures. The three locations we sampled soil from were the rose garden, the forest, and the native garden. I was shocked that the color and texture of the soil varied from one location to another because the botanical garden itself is man-made. We were also the first ones to collect soil from the garden although there are other scientists who study the place, so that was interesting to note that no one had ever studied the soil before.

The most fascinating thing I learned was that microbes communicate with each other through a process known as quorum sensing. Bacteria communicates in order to determine the size of their community, and microbes are virtually everywhere. Therefore, they are significant contributors to the micro-biodiversity of the botanical garden. I also enjoyed observing the forest, in which most of the trees had been uprooted and fallen over. There were organisms underneath the logs and branches that were on the ground, and we saw a bunny along the way. It was amazing to me how powerful of a force nature really is since the trees were extremely tall, so it must have been loud when they fell over. The native garden was unique as well since we saw carnivorous plants along the path and there were boulders that were split by glaciers since the land used to be covered in glaciers thousands of years ago. I definitely learned how the geological history of the planet can be unfolded through the evidence left by of what existed in the past.

For the last thirty minutes, we engaged in a discussion with Ms. Joyner about what we studied today, but were not able to see. She showed us microbes that she had cultivated from the three locations a few days ago, and it was impressive to see how they seemed to arrange in distinct patterns in their petri dishes. We were told not to open them because of their odor, but seeing the microbes inspired me to want to get involved in research in order to grow bacteria myself. From our conversation, I learned that the three locations were chosen specifically for us in order to show a wide array of the New York Botanical Garden. We also looked at how data would be presented by researchers who study soil, and I found out that top soil has a greater diversity of microbes than soil that is deeper in the ground. There are also several microbes that are so minuscule that they actually live on the specks of rocks and minerals in soil itself. Personally, I have not interacted with so much dirt and soil since I was five years old, but it was a very fun, learning experience.