"But when she and a graduate student peered through a microscope, they watched in astonishment as a brown wormlike creature greedily munching through green clumps of algae as if more than 130 years hadn't passed since its last meal. Equally oblivious, a host of life water fleas, worms, plankton danced and spun around it. We've been able to resurrect some of the ancient life that shows what this wetland was like prior to urbanization,"
"Riskin's work and separate research from a paleoecologist, have contributed towards two peer-reviewed studies due to be published soon on the team's findings. For the researchers, the discoveries do more than just serve as a novel time capsule. Toronto's multibillion-dollar effort to re-naturalize a major river and the surrounding lands, was advertised as one of the largest waterfront revitalization projects in the world. As the project nears completion, the discoveries have underscored the resilience of ecosystems in the face of human-led destruction."
Shelby Riskin examined disk-shaped, century-old soil samples from Toronto's waterfront and found viable organisms and seeds indicating a former wetland habitat including cattails, bulrushes, water lilies and irises. Microscopic inspection revealed a brown, wormlike creature feeding on algae alongside water fleas, worms and plankton, appearing active despite more than 130 years of burial. Excavation during re-routing of the Don River uncovered thick green shoots and intact seeds. The samples contributed to peer-reviewed studies and connect to a multibillion-dollar effort to re-naturalize the Don River and waterfront, highlighting ecosystem resilience and informing restoration planning.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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