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Apr 24, 2002 |
Gribbles: Importance
Gribbles are an essential "cleanup crew" for our oceans and estuaries. music ambience: ocean Gribbles are tiny, almost microscopic marine creatures which have found their place in the world -- they bore into wood, attacking ships and destroying docks, in their search for food and shelter. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. The damage done by gribbles ends up costing hundreds of millions of dollars each year, but their wood boring activities aren't all bad. In fact, the world would be a very different place without the gribble. Dr. Paul Boyle is the director of the Osborne Laboratories of Marine Science. "Theyre very important in the ocean. Most people dont think about it, but lots of wood ends up in our rivers and estuaries - and if we didnt have these animals to break down the wood, our estuaries and beach areas would be covered with wood from long history of wood floating down rivers - or storms throwing logs and things back up on the beaches." On land, the degradation of wood is carried out principally by fungi - but because this kind of decay isn't as active in the ocean environment - the gribble's role becomes even more important. "Theyre very small, but theyre very abundant. What happens in the oceans and in our estuarine areas is that the gribbles take on a much larger role in reducing wood to smaller particles that bacteria and other microorganisms can then continue to degrade. So theyve filled a niche in the ocean, if you will, thats assumed by other organisms in the forest." To hear about our CD, please visit us at pulseplanet.com. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner. music ANIMALS Scientist: Paul Boyle |
