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Thiswebsitewouldliketoremindyou:Yourbrowser(Safari7)isoutofdate.Updateyourbrowserfor moresecurity,comfortandthebestexperienceonthissite. Article BellyButtonBiodiversity Citizenscientistsnavigate‘theintimateforestsoftheumbilicus’ Forthecompletearticlewithmediaresources,visit: http://nationalgeographic.org/news/belly-button-biodiversity/ ByKimberlyDumke Wednesday,May22,2013 Lookatyournavel.Doyouknowwhatitis?Itisascar,ormark,thatremains whereyourumbilicalcordattachedyoutoyourmotherbeforeyouwereborn. Yournavelistechnicallynamedtheumbilicusandiscommonlycalledthe“belly button.”Allhumanshavethem.Othermammalshavethemaswell,although theirsareusuallysmoothorflat—oftenjustathinlinehiddenbyfur. Lookatyourbellybuttonagain.Areyouan“innie”oran“outie”?Ifyouhavean indentationordepression—ifyoucanputthetipofyourfingerin—thenyouarean innie.Mostpeopleareinnies.Ifyouhaveabumporprotrusion,thenyouarean outie. Whatdoyouthinkisinyourbellybutton?In2011,ateamofscientistslaunched theBellyButtonBiodiversityProjecttofindout.Thesescientistswerefromthe biologydepartmentofNorthCarolinaStateUniversity(NCState)andtheNature ResearchCenter(NRC)attheNorthCarolinaMuseumofNaturalSciences. “We'reinterestedinhelpingpeopleunderstandandappreciatethemicroscopic specieswithwhichweshareourdailylives,”saysteammemberDr.Holly Menninger,anentomologistandNCState’sdirectorofpublicscience. Usuallywhenwethinkofbodybacteria,shesays,wethinkofthebadmicrobes 1of5 × thatcauseillness.Butinreality,mostoftheorganismsonourskinareourfirst lineofprotectionfrompathogens—organismsthatcancausedisease. It’saJungleinThere! Forthisproject,peoplewipedcottonswabsinorontheirbellybuttons.Thefirst groupof66sampleswascollectedfromvisitorstothemuseumandother participants. Dr.MegLowman,ateammemberanddirectoroftheNRC,says,“Thisprojectwas notonlyinclusiveofallvisitors,butalsohelpedteachthemaboutthechallenges andtechniquesbehindthecollectionofscientificdata.” Theresearchteamdiscoveredthatbellybuttonsareverydiversehabitats!Intotal, theydiscovered2,368differentspecies.Morethanhalfofthosemaybenewto science. “Thebellybuttonsremindedmeofrainforests,”wroteDr.RobDunn,abiologist atNCStateandtheproject’sleader,inablogpost.“Theydifferedmorethanwe expected.” Eachparticipant’sbellybuttonhostedabout67differentspecies.Yetnotonewas commontoeveryperson,andonlyeightwerefoundonatleast70percentof participants. Theteamconsideredfactorsincludingage,sex,andwhetherthepersonhadan innieoranoutie.Despitethisresearch,thescientistscan’tquiteexplainwhysome bellybuttonshadaparticularspecies,whileothersdidnot. Theresearchersdidlearn,however,thattheeightmostcommonspecieswere amongthemostabundant.Thismeansthatifaspecieswasfoundinabelly button,thatbellybuttonusuallyhadalotofthatspecies! InNovember2012,theteampublishedtheirfirstfindingsinapapercalled“A JungleinThere:BacteriainBellyButtonsareHighlyDiverse,ButPredictable.”They willsoonhave600samplesfrompeoplealloverNorthAmerica. 2of5 “Withthisvariety,wemaywellbegintoexplainthedifferencesamongpeoplein termsoftheintimateforestsoftheirumbilicus,”Dunnwrote. CitizenScience Menninger’steamispassionateaboutengagingpeopleofallagesinthewhole processofscience,fromcollectingandanalyzingdata,tomakingobservations, producingnewhypotheses,anddeterminingwhattostudynext. BothNCState’sbiologydepartmentandNRChavemultiplecitizenscience initiativestogetthepublicinvolved.TheseincludeArmpit-pa-looza,astudyof armpits;acensusofcamelcrickets(alsoknownas“sprickets”);andSchoolof Ants,whichisidentifyingantsandmappingtheirbiodiversityacrosstheUnited States. “Onedoesn'thavetogoofftotheAmazonrainforesttoexperiencebiodiversity. Itexistsinyourbackyard,yourbasementandevenyourbellybutton!”says Menninger.“Thisbiodiversityiscriticaltothefunctioningandhealthofour ecosystems—bethatonourskin,orourforestsandstreams.” So,willyoubeacitizenscientist?Joinuphere! Armpit-a-palooza! CamelCricketCensus! SchoolofAnts! Vocabulary Term abundant bacteria Partof Definition Speech adjectiveinlargeamounts. plural (singular:bacterium)single-celledorganismsfoundinevery noun biodiversity noun biology noun citizen science noun ecosystemonEarth. allthedifferentkindsoflivingorganismswithinagivenarea. studyoflivingthings. scienceprojectorprogramwherevolunteerswhoarenot scientistsconductsurveys,takemeasurements,orrecord observations. 3of5 Term critical Partof Definition Speech adjectiveveryimportant. data plural noun (singular:datum)informationcollectedduringascientific study. depression noun indentationordipinthelandscape. diverse adjectivevariedorhavingmanydifferenttypes. communityandinteractionsoflivingandnonlivingthingsin ecosystem noun anarea. personwhostudiesinsectsandtheirinteractionwiththe entomologistnoun environment. forest noun ecosystemfilledwithtreesandunderbrush. function fur verb noun toworkorworkcorrectly. thickhaircoveringtheskinofananimal. habitat noun environmentwhereanorganismlivesthroughouttheyear orforshorterperiodsoftime. hypothesis noun statementorsuggestionthatexplainscertainquestions aboutcertainfacts.Ahypothesisistestedtodetermineifit isaccurate. indentation noun initiative noun intimate mammal microbe dent,cut,ordepression. firststepormoveinaplan. adjectiveverypersonalorprivate. animalwithhairthatgivesbirthtoliveoffspring.Female noun mammalsproducemilktofeedtheiroffspring. noun tinyorganism,usuallyabacterium. microscopic adjectiveverysmall. markorindentationonamammal'sabdomenthatindicates navel noun wheretheumbilicalcordlinkingthefetusandthemother wasattached.Alsocalledanumbilicusorbellybutton. obscure verb todarkenorpartiallyblock. pathogen protrusion noun noun organismthatcausesadisease,suchasavirus. somethingthatswellsorsticksout. rainforest noun areaoftall,mostlyevergreentreesandahighamountof rainfall. species noun groupofsimilarorganismsthatcanreproducewitheach other. 4of5 Term stream umbilical cord Partof Definition Speech noun bodyofflowingwater. flexiblecordconnectingthefetusofamammalwiththe noun mother'splacenta,providingnourishmenttothefetus.Also calledafunis. Articles&Profiles NationalGeographicNews:WhatLivesinYourBellyButton?StudyFinds'Rain Forest'ofSpecies Interactives YourWildLife:WhatisLivinginYourHouse? Websites YourWildLife:BellyButtonBiodiversity ©1996–2016NationalGeographicSociety.Allrightsreserved. 5of5