Short abstract:

Drawing attention to temporalities and rhythms in the constitution and knowability of microbial communities in intertidal zones, this paper asks what emerges, beyond anthropocentric frames of time, when ways of knowing become attuned to the interlocking of bio- and geo-rhythms of microbes.

Long abstract:

Coastal microbial mats are sun-light driven consortia of microbes often found in intertidal zones, where they provide a protection against erosion. Diverse functional groups of microbes interact to form multispecies ecosystems that some researchers liken to a macroscopic living entity. The close coupling of these diverse microbial groups is achieved through the cycling and recycling of elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur. Circadian rhythms enable cells to coordinate their physiology with cyclical changes in the environment such as Earth’s light/dark cycle. This paper explores how microbial mats become differently legible through the attention to rhythms that require scientists to adhere to carefully timed sampling protocols. As the primary producers in microbial mats cyanobacteria have been observed to impose their daily rhythms onto the rest of the microbial community through the rhythmic release of metabolic products (Hörnlein et al 2018). The forms of life that emerge in these muddy encounters literalize the notion of life as a “sentient symphony” (Margulis & Sagan 1995). Drawing attention to temporalities and rhythms in the constitution and knowability of microbial communities in intertidal zones, this paper asks how these microbial rhythms interact with human experiences, scientific measurements, and earthly cycles. In other words, what emerges, beyond anthropocentric frames of time, when ways of knowing become attuned to the interlocking of bio- and geo-rhythms of microbes in intertidal zones?