Microscopic Ecosystem Buried For 130 Years Wakes Up After Wetland Restoration In Toronto

Microscopic Ecosystem Buried For 130 Years Wakes Up After Wetland Restoration In Toronto

Microscopic Ecosystem Buried For 130 Years Wakes Up After Wetland Restoration In Toronto Single-celled green algae discovered in the soil – credit, Hana Cho Supplied Worms, plankton, water fleas, sedges, algae, and cattails—the foundations of the food web in Toronto’s Don River ecosystem, simply woke up again after 130 years of entombment, stunning scientists. The Don River was tamed and turned into a canalized, industrial waterfront at the turn of the century, and was recently the focus of one of the largest wetland rewilding efforts in North America. As the bulldozers removed layer after layer of weeds, dirt, gravel, and industrial debris, they suddenly started digging up native reeds and cattails. Scientists combing through soil samples began seeing life—and lots of it—munching or lounging around as if nothing had ever happened. Seeds and pollen from centuries past—from extinct trees—were turned up, and the whole restoration suddenly took on a very different countenance: one of assurity…