Response of Antarctic cryoconite microbial communities to light

Bagshaw, Elizabeth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8392-1750, Wadham, Jemma L., Tranter, Martyn, Perkins, Rupert Gordon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0810-2656, Morgan, Alistair, Williamson, Christopher J., Fountain, Andrew G., Fitzsimons, Sean and Dubnick, Ashley 2016. Response of Antarctic cryoconite microbial communities to light. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 92 (6) , fiw076. 10.1093/femsec/fiw076

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Abstract

Microbial communities on polar glacier surfaces are found dispersed on the ice surface, or concentrated in cryoconite holes and cryolakes, which are accumulations of debris covered by a layer of ice for some or all of the year. The ice lid limits the penetration of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) to the sediment layer, since the ice attenuates up to 99% of incoming radiation. This suite of field and laboratory experiments demonstrates that PAR is an important control on primary production in cryoconite and cryolake ecosystems. Increased light intensity increased efficiency of primary production in controlled laboratory incubations of debris from the surface of Joyce Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. However, when light intensity was increased to levels near that received on the ice surface, without the protection of an ice lid, efficiency decreased and measurements of photophysiology showed that the communities suffered light stress. The communities are therefore well adapted to low light levels. Comparison with Arctic cryoconite communities, which are typically not covered by an ice lid for the majority of the ablation season, showed that these organisms were also stressed by high light, so they must employ strategies to protect against photodamage.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	1574-6941
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	21 April 2016
Date of Acceptance:	10 April 2016
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 01:23
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/89434

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