The Martian Arctic Ecosystem - A fictional report Interplanetary Society Journal - April 2027 - (4) by R. Gesthuizen [email protected], C. Bell

Abstract This report describes an amazing ecosystem discovered near the Arctic Polar ice cap on the planet Mars in the year 2030 by an interplanetary science mission. It describes the flora and fauna, outlining how energy moves through the system. It is hoped that this report will help us to minimise the human impact on this fragile new world by better understanding how the creatures interact and how energy flows through the system.

Report Body Description of the ecosystem The solid crust of dry ice on the surface of the Martian Arctic consists of CO2. The soil is rich in iron covering a permanent body of frozen water around 1 meter under the surface and crust. This has created a unique environment where a primitive form of life has been found and described near the very edge of the ice field. It is been speculated that the life here was established from plant and bacterial spores blown across from Planet Earth (Bell 2031)

Plant life The plant life that is growing near the ice cap is called Acrustopillia. This robust plant contains deep roots and tough red leaves. A red pigment in the leaves help to convert ultraviolet radiation into sugar. Genome mapping indicates Acrustoppillia is genetically similar to Beetroot on Earth. (Bell 2031)

Microbial life Tiny bacteria called Blogalot feed upon the crystophillia. They cover the Acrustophilla plants in a fine pink powder that can be easily blown away. It has been established (McKay, Hamilton 1996) that it was fossils of Blogalot that were found in the meteorite ALH 84001 found in in Allan Hills, Antarctica on December 27, 1984. It has been hypothesised that it was exposure to Blogalot that lead to team leader Dr Gesthuizen’s mysterious chest infection that failed to respond to conventional antibiotics, necessitating the first use of a Bio Lab Level 4 Laboratory on Mars. (Gesthuizen 2032)

Animal life Tiny orange creatures called Criterols feed upon the Blogalots and Acrosphillia. These small orange soft-bodied blobs move about on a single pseudopods, stretching out one part of themselves then pulling the rest forward whilst slowly digesting anything organic that they are in contact with. The Criterols are genetically similar to amoeba found on earth. Criterols are in turn eaten by black Deltaflyers, a very rare, black flying creature at the end of the food chain. Deltaflyers breed only in the Martian Winter. The initial courtship begins with the male making strong visual contact with the female. This tends to lead to regular, close contact, punctuated only by the male leaving the female every seven Martian solar days or so to congregate with other males around a colony of Criterols. What has not been adequately explained is why the male Deltaflyers tend to gorge themselves on the Criterols before staggering back to the nesting female before regurgitating the contents of their stomach around the nest. Crystophillia thrive in areas of abandoned Deltaflyer nests.

Food web The energy in this ecosystem mainly flows from the Sun as illustrated by this food web.

Impact by Humans Space tourists regularly travel to this ecosystem from planet earth. Their heavy boots have crushed the Acrustopillia plant leaves, damaging them beyond repair. In addition, droid rings and camera lens covers that have been left behind, choking the Deltaflyers. There is a persistent danger that other creatures could be introduced to this environment.

Conclusion In conclusion, this report describes the living creatures in the Martian Arctic. We should conduct more research to understand this fragile ecosystem. This will help us to develop rules about how we should regulate human behaviour and space tourism to protect this environment so that future generations can enjoy and benefit from it.

Bibliography Gesthuizen, R. 2032 “Assorted speculations for writing a report about an ecosystem” DEECD http://www.mars.org/gesthuizen.html downloaded 12 April 2032 Bell, C. 2031 “A fasciculum ficta notis ad Martia Eco-ratio” Inspire Magazine http://inspire.com/?paper=12345 downloaded 12 May 2032

This is a sample ecosystem outline for a fictitious environment on Mars. I hope to use this as a model report that students can use to write up a similar report for their ecosystem (Alpine, Tundra, Marine, Desert, Savanna, Rainforest etc.) Shared under a creative commons licence - Share Alike, Attribution Roland Gesthuizen