The life forms that inhabit marshy environments have adapted to face great challenges. These areas are characterized by the strong bond they have with water, sometimes so abundant that it covers everything, sometimes so scarce that it almost disappears completely for months. This means that only the most adaptable life forms can survive in these variable conditions. Marsh amphibian plants can completely change their shape to be able to live under water and change again when it is lacking; in doing this, a lot of organic matter such as leaves, stems and flowers are abandoned and settle on the bottom.

All this matter, however, is not waste, but a resource for all those animals that feed on detritus. Aquatic snails, for example, eat decomposing leaves; their waste is degraded by fungi, microorganisms and bacteria that transform it into humus. The worms that live on the bottom, in a very difficult environment where oxygen is scarce, dig through the clayey mud and humus, mixing and renewing the bottom where plants, thanks to their roots, find the nutrients they need to grow. As we can see, everything is connected and circular and nothing is wasted.

These complex environments are also an ideal refuge for many animal species: insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals live within the marshy areas that must be protected and defended because they contain an enormous concentration of biodiversity.

MICRORIPARIUM

LET'S LEARN TO LOOK DEEPER!

Inside the jar are representatives of all five kingdoms of life forms. From the simplest, composed of a single cell, to the most complex. There are those who can produce their own food, like algae and plants, to those who must feed on other life forms to survive.

What appears to us as something very simple is actually a complex balance between minerals and life forms.

Depending on the conditions of light, temperature and the presence or absence of water, this ecosystem varies by alternating moments of strong plant growth with slowdowns and compensations by the algae.

BECAUSE EACH ECOSYSTEM IS SELF-MANAGING BASED ON EXTERNAL CONDITIONS, EACH JAR OF MICRORIPARIUM IS UNIQUE.

Even some animals will be more or less present at certain times, these are completely normal reactions, a mirror of what happens in any environment in nature.

WHAT ANIMALS CAN WE FIND INSIDE A MICRORIPARIUM VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE?

There are many life forms enclosed within it, given that each MICRORIPARIUM is different from the other, it is not a given that the same ones are present in all of them.

OSTRACODS:

Very small invertebrates that move quickly between open water and substrate, they feed on any type of detritus of vegetal or animal origin.

DAPHNIA:

small crustacean that feeds on unicellular algae in suspension

CYCLOPS:

It is a tiny crustacean that feeds on phytoplankton

ANNELLIDIS (worms):

There are many species that we can find, they live in the bottom band, they feed on debris and their incessant digging avoids the compaction of the soil by bringing oxygen to the depths

ASELLUS:

a crustacean of "large" size, compared to the other inhabitants, is a detritivore that feeds on old leaves fallen on the bottom

GASTEROPODS (snails):

We will see Planobarius, Planorbella, Limnea and Physa grazing in search of biofilm and organic debris on the surfaces of plants and on the glass of the jar. They lay clearly visible eggs protected by a transparent jelly

HYDRA:

sometimes their green color can be confusing and make them look like algae, but in reality they are more similar to jellyfish. They feed on phyto and zooplankton

FLYING INSECT LARVAE:

Chironomids, midges, mosquitoes and dragonflies can lay eggs in your MICRORIPARIUM. They are not harmful to the ecosystem, but mosquito larvae can be aspirated with a needleless syringe before metamorphosis.

HOW TO CARE FOR MICRORIPARIUM