Life on the Edge
The billions of colorful microorganisms lining this hot spring’s runoff channels are called “extremophiles” because they live in conditions that were once thought to be too extreme to host life. Extremophiles that live in hot springs are called “thermophiles”—heat-lovers.
Miniature Forests
Within the rainbow of orange, brown, and red colors, some microorganisms live in communities of thick mats. Like miniature forests, these mats have a vertical structure and stratified functions. Microbes that live on or near the top of the mat (similar to a forest canopy) use sunlight to perform photosynthesis, which fuels the mat community. Organisms living deeper in the mat (similar to a forest understory) derive energy from chemicals produced by the surface microbes. They perform other vital functions such as decomposition and recycling nutrients to the mat’s “canopy” just like their counterparts in a forest. All of these organisms create an ecosystem in the expanse of a few inches.
(sidebar)
Yellowstone National Park is one of the most accessible places to study extreme environments and the organisms that inhabit them. Understanding lifeforms here provides clues for scientists searching for life elsewhere in the universe.
Because conditions on other planets in our solar system are harsh, if life exists elsewhere it is probably as some form of microscopic extremophile.
This exhibit made possible by a generous grant to the Yellowstone Park Foundation from NASA Astrobiology Institute and Lockheed Martin Space Operations
Marker can be reached from Grand Loop Road (U.S. 89) 1 mile south of Firehole Lake Drive, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
