Biological soil crust algae in the polar regions - biodiversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem resilience under global change scenarios
Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse
Terrestrial green algae and cyanobacteria are typical and abundant components of biological soil crusts in the polar regions. These communities form water-stable aggregates that have important ecological roles in primary production, nitrogen fixation, nutrient cycling, water retention and stabilization of soils. Although available data on green algae and cyanobacteria are generally very limited for the Arctic and Antarctica, their functional importance as ecosystem developers in nutrient poor environments is regarded as high. The main goal of our project was, for the first time, to conduct a precise evaluation of the biodiversity of eukaryotic green microalgae and cyanobacteria in biological soil crusts (BSCs) isolated from the Antarctic Peninsula and Arctic Svalbard. Vegetation surveys were performed at the research sites on Livingston Island (Antarctica) and Svalbard (Arctica). The most abundant taxa were identified using classical approaches, molecular identification techniques using newly established cultured strains, as well as new omics technics (such as metabarcoding and metatranscriptomics). The infra-specific genetic diversity of a range of selected (ecological key species) populations was determined in relation to their physiological plasticity. In addition, the project contributed to our understanding of the biogeography of cyanobacterial and algal communities within soil crusts, the spatial and seasonal role of cyanobacteria and algae within the soil crust community, and the dependence of the community composition on the availability of water. The resilience to water and temperature stress has also been studied using classical and metatranscriptomic approaches using common algal genera found in soil crust communities. A major finding of the latter studies was that cold acclimation improved water stress resilience in the ubiquitous alga "Klebsormidium". Overall, the project has led to 10 publications in international recognized journals.
Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)
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2016. RNA isolation from biological soil crusts: methodological aspects. Algological Studies, 151/152, 21–38
Rippin, M., Komsic-Buchmann, K. and Becker, B.
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2017. Biological Soil Crusts of Arctic Svalbard - Water Availability as Potential Controlling Factor for Microalgal Biodiversity. Frontiers in Microbiology 8:1485
Borchhardt. N., Baum, C., Mikhailyuk, T. and Karsten, U.
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2017. Biological soil crusts of Arctic Svalbard and of Livingston Island, Antarctica. Polar Biol 40:399–411
Williams, L, Borchhardt, N, Colesie, C., Baum, C., Komsic-Buchmann, K., Rippin, M., Becker,. Karsten U., Büdel, B.
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2017. Diversity of algae and lichens in biological soil crusts of Ardley and King George Island, Antarctica. Antarctic Science 29, 229-237
Borchhardt, N., Schiefelbein, U., Abarca, N., Boy, J., Mikhailyuk, T., Sipman, H.J.M. and Karsten, U.
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2018. Biodiversity of biological soil crusts from the Polar Regions revealed by metabarcoding. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 94, fiy036
Rippin, M., Lange, S., Sausen, N. and Becker, B.
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2018. Genus richness of microalgae and Cyanobacteria in biological soil crusts from Svalbard and Livingston Island: morphological versus molecular approaches. Polar Biology, 41, 909–923
Rippin, M., Borchhardt, N., Williams, L., Colesie, C. Jung, P., Büdel, B., Karsten, U., Becker, B.
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2018. Strong in combination: polyphasic approach enhances arguments for cold-assigned cyanobacterial endemism. MicrobiologyOpen 2018:e729
Jung P, Briegel-Williams L, Schermer M, Büdel B
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2018. Uncovering biological soil crusts: Carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts, Biogeosciences, 15, 1149–1160
Jung, P., Briegel-Williams, L., Simon, A., Thyssen, A., Büdel, B.
