Very cool! One of my interests is island biogeography (though what constitutes an 'island' for microbes is interesting in its own right), and ecological recovery after a perturbation like a fire is a huge tool in understanding that.
Also, it took me nearly a minute to find the shrew in that picture, testament to how well their coloration works for them (or how bad my eyesight is).
That sounds fascinating - have you written up any articles about microbe island biogeography? Would be a very interesting read.
As for the shrew - don't worry, I have a friend who still can't find him in that picture 😂
I haven't, but I just added it to the file where I keep article ideas, thanks.
Island biogeography is the best- definitely one of the few sciences that could potentially lure me away from geology. Definitely going to give some of your stuff a read!
Come to the biological side, we have squishy things.
I mean, we do too, they're just, uh... several thousand degrees Celcius.