This is my first time using iNatForum, so I hope this is in the right category! I’m not looking to identify a specific species, but I was just looking for some opinions to help me with something I’m working on. I have to identify micro-organisms in a biological environment, without the typical tools that would be used to do so. I need to identify them simply by observing the biological area I’ve picked.
I took a lot of close-up pictures of trees, and have found various holes and damage, but I would assume most of that came from bigger species - Some possibly from a bird. All advice is welcome!
Do you mean small animals, single celled protists, or bacteria? For bacteria, my understanding is that it’s generally impossible to identify most species found in the environment to species morphologically. You’d need to do genetic sequencing. You could probably identify some of them through a combination of staining + good optical microscope but I don’t know which species work for that. Archaea are even harder.
It seems to me that I have to identify any microorganisms I can. I agree, identifying archaea feels like I’m being asked to do the impossible, especially given the time I have. I was wondering if I’d be able to identify small animals or bacteria by looking at trees, and finding out what caused various damage to them. Does that seem feasible to you? And thanks for the help!
I am confused. Where are these requirements coming from? Why do you “need” to identify organisms without much equipment and under a time limit? If this is for your own interest, the restrictions seem arbitrary. If this is for an educational assignment, what is the purpose of the assignment and why does it need to be done this way?
It’s for an educational assignment. I need to identify organisms in a given environment and write a report on the durability and biodiversity of the area. One of the criteria is that I need to identify microorganisms and explain their advantages and inconveniences for the environment. We don’t have access to any equipment that could help us. We’re allowed to do research to find information, but it’s difficult to find much on the microorganisms present.
Are you comfortable sharing where this is? I would be surprised if a US institution, at any educational level, asked students to identify micro-organisms from real life (as opposed to prepared images or slides) without prior training or providing reasonable equipment.
I’m sorry, I’m not comfortable with sharing where this is. However, if I’m unable to identify any microorganisms, I am allowed to do research, but as I mentioned, it’s difficult to find very much on the area I visited. It doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to identify any on my own, which I think is pretty reasonable. I’ll have to make do with what I can find online. Thank you so much for your help!
Sometimes it’s possible to tell plant pathogens from the symptoms they cause, e.g. burls on a tree could be Agrobacterium or certain fungi like mildew are host-specific and can be identified if you can ID their host plant. Some bacteria that form larger colonies may be identifiable without microscopy, e.g. Nostoc. But without a microscope or access to lab supplies, this sounds like a very difficult assignment. Our microbiology students do a project in lab where they have to sample and ID microbes from the environment but they have a variety of culture plates and stains and other lab equipment available.
It seems to me that these are questions you should be asking your instructor.
Because either:
a) the assignment is very poorly designed or
b) has been very poorly communicated
Microorganisms are, by definition, not visible to the naked eye. Asking people to find and identify microorganisms – if that is indeed what you are expected to do – without any equipment that would allow you to actually see them strikes me as more than a little nonsensical, and I fail to see what pedagogical purpose this would serve or what the expected learning outcomes are (besides frustration).