Deep within the lava caves of Hawaii, microbial life thrives. In fact, a recent study has found that the life teeming within the caves is made up almost entirely of unknown species.
More surprisingly, the researchers found that the microbial life was structured into complex networks of species that relied on each other. Within these networks were ‘hub species’, with so many links to other species that if they were removed, it could cause ecological collapse.
We spoke to Dr. Rebecca Prescott and Dr. Stuart Donachie, microbiologists at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa and authors of the study.
How did you search for life in these lava caves?
Dr. Rebecca Prescott: “We had 70 samples of microbial mats [layers of microbes that live on surfaces] that we looked at from a variety of volcanic environments of different ages. The environments included lava tubes, geothermal caves and steam vents.”
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Could this tell us more about microbes in other extreme environments?
Dr. Stuart Donachie: “…Life, at least as we know it, needs water. Hence we’re looking for liquid water on other planets or any other body, because that’s the first thing we know of that’s needed for life.”
