Cruz-Kuri1,
C. McKay2, R. Navarro-González3 1Instituto de Ciencias Básicas. University of Veracruz. MEXICO; 2Ames Research Center. NASA. USA; 3Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares. UNAM. MEXICO We are interested in treelines because of Mars and the possibility that in the future it might be habitable. We think that it had water in the past, maybe biology too; today it has no liquid water, but we think that in the future it might have liquid water again. Some of the astrobiology questions address to the potential for survival and the evolution of life beyond the planet of origin and in particular to the question if life could adapt to Mars. Perhaps it could be habitable for plants. The connection with Mars and treeline is natural: today Mars selleck products can be compared to the top of a mountain, very cold and very dry, nothing can grow there, but the process of making Mars habitable, in a sense, can be compared, as
it was made explicit in a paper several years ago, with a metaphor of coming down a mountain: as one comes down, the first thing one notices is the absence of ice, then fair ground, next microbes and then the presence of plants and trees; so the study of trees is a key step and this takes us to Pico de Orizaba (19°N) which has the highest treeline. Why is this so? This is one several big questions. One hypothesis refers to climate, another one to biology. We have climate data, microbiology data and soil data. This is a preliminary report about statistical analyses selleck kinase inhibitor performed to multivariate time series of some meteorological variables measured around the treeline of Pico de Orizaba. The data span a period of almost Janus kinase (JAK) 10 years. The study is just an aspect of a series of approaches with the goal of
gaining a better understanding of treelines in our planet and its possible relation to adaptability of life in other worlds, in particular to Mars. Cruz-Kuri, L., McKay, C. And Navarro-González, R. (2004). Some Statistical Aspects Related to the Study of Treelines in Pico de Orizaba. COLE. Volume 7. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology. J. Seckbach et al (eds.), Life in the Universe, 223–224. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Körner, C. (2003). Functional Plant Ecology of High Mountain Ecosystems. Springer-Verlag. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York. Third Edition. McKay, C. (2008). Astrobiologic relevance of Pico de Orizaba for terraforming Mars. Workshop on the Astrobiology of Pico de Orizaba. Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM. E-mail: kruz1111@yahoo.com.mx Survival of Methanogens Following Desiccation at Mars Surface Pressure Timothy A. Kral1,2, Travis S. Altheide1, Adrienne E. Lueders2 1Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences; 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 72701. The relatively recent discoveries that liquid water most likely existed on the surface of Mars (Squyres et al.