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THE LIFE IN THE WELL
Montezuma Well contains several plants and animals that are only
found in its unique environment. Scientists think that birds and
possibly flying insects brought some of these small creatures, or
at least their ancestors, to the Well. As the waterfowl traveled
across the desert, they would stop at various water spots to
drink and eat. At each stop, the birds would deposit creatures
and/or trap more new organisms in their feathers and webbed feet
to be transported to their new destinations. Eventually, when the
ducks visited Montezuma Well, some of the small creatures would
be deposited in their new home. If they were tolerant of their
new environment, they would survive, if not, they would remain
dormant or die! This dispersion process of aquatic organisms is
still going on today in Montezuma Well with the annual visits of
American widgeons, coots, mallards, ruddy ducks, cinnamon teal,
gadwalls, and the occasional Canadian goose. These waterfowl
make Montezuma Well their winter home between November and April
of each year and then migrate to their summer home in the North.
Today in Montezuma Well we find several aquatic animals that have
adapted to the unusual conditions of the Well. The proposed food
chain in Montezuma Well is illustrated below.
Some of the small aquatic plants (called algae), many of which
could fit on the tip of a pin, float in the water and use light
energy and the rich supply of dissolved carbon dioxide to
manufacture foor. These algae in turn serve as food for the
numerous shrimp-like animals called amphipods that are less than
one-eighth of an inch long. The unique amphipods have developed
small food collecting hairs to trap the microscopic plants
floating in the water.
Blood sucking leeches are also abundant in the aquatic
vegetation. They probably feed on the turtles and muskrats in
the Well. The most abundant species of leech in the Well does
not suck blood, but has tiny sensory hairs all over their 2-inch
long body which enable them to find, and in one big gulp, eat the
amphipods in the total darkness of night. Occasionally, the
always hungry water scorpion will also creep out at night to
capture the shrimp-like creatures. There are no fish found in
the Well because of the high concentrations of carbon dioxide
released from bottom springs, however, turtles seem to thrive in
the environment.
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