Seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in Cape Shirreff, Antarctica.
Seabirds and pinnipeds play an important role in biogeochemical cycling by transferring nutrients from aquatic to terrestrial environments. Indeed, soils rich in animal depositions have generally high organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents. Several studies have assessed bacterial diversity...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2b8ab7239f7b4c49ad254ade6d214d2e 2023-05-15T13:41:06+02:00 Seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. Lía Ramírez-Fernández Nicole Trefault Margarita Carú Julieta Orlando 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209887 https://doaj.org/article/2b8ab7239f7b4c49ad254ade6d214d2e EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209887 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209887 https://doaj.org/article/2b8ab7239f7b4c49ad254ade6d214d2e PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 1, p e0209887 (2019) Medicine R Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209887 2022-12-31T13:18:13Z Seabirds and pinnipeds play an important role in biogeochemical cycling by transferring nutrients from aquatic to terrestrial environments. Indeed, soils rich in animal depositions have generally high organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents. Several studies have assessed bacterial diversity in Antarctic soils influenced by marine animals; however most have been conducted in areas with significant human impact. Thus, we chose Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, an Antarctic Specially Protected Area designated mainly to protect the diversity of marine vertebrate fauna, and selected sampling sites with different types of animals coexisting in a relatively small space, and where human presence and impact are negligible. Using 16S rRNA gene analyses through massive sequencing, we assessed the influence of animal concentrations, via their modification of edaphic characteristics, on soil bacterial diversity and composition. The nutrient composition of soils impacted by Antarctic fur seals and kelp gulls was more similar to that of control soils (i.e. soils without visible presence of plants or animals), which may be due to the more active behaviour of these marine animals compared to other species. Conversely, the soils from concentrations of southern elephant seals and penguins showed greater differences in soil nutrients compared to the control. In agreement with this, the bacterial communities of the soils associated with these animals were most different from those of the control soils, with the soils of penguin colonies also possessing the lowest bacterial diversity. However, all the soils influenced by the presence of marine animals were dominated by bacteria belonging to Gammaproteobacteria, particularly those of the genus Rhodanobacter. Therefore, we conclude that the modification of soil nutrient composition by marine vertebrates promotes specific groups of bacteria, which could play an important role in the recycling of nutrients in terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Antarctica Elephant Seals Livingston Island Southern Elephant Seals Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Livingston Island ENVELOPE(-60.500,-60.500,-62.600,-62.600) Shirreff ENVELOPE(-60.792,-60.792,-62.459,-62.459) Cape Shirreff ENVELOPE(-60.800,-60.800,-62.417,-62.417) PLOS ONE 14 1 e0209887 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Lía Ramírez-Fernández Nicole Trefault Margarita Carú Julieta Orlando Seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Seabirds and pinnipeds play an important role in biogeochemical cycling by transferring nutrients from aquatic to terrestrial environments. Indeed, soils rich in animal depositions have generally high organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents. Several studies have assessed bacterial diversity in Antarctic soils influenced by marine animals; however most have been conducted in areas with significant human impact. Thus, we chose Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, an Antarctic Specially Protected Area designated mainly to protect the diversity of marine vertebrate fauna, and selected sampling sites with different types of animals coexisting in a relatively small space, and where human presence and impact are negligible. Using 16S rRNA gene analyses through massive sequencing, we assessed the influence of animal concentrations, via their modification of edaphic characteristics, on soil bacterial diversity and composition. The nutrient composition of soils impacted by Antarctic fur seals and kelp gulls was more similar to that of control soils (i.e. soils without visible presence of plants or animals), which may be due to the more active behaviour of these marine animals compared to other species. Conversely, the soils from concentrations of southern elephant seals and penguins showed greater differences in soil nutrients compared to the control. In agreement with this, the bacterial communities of the soils associated with these animals were most different from those of the control soils, with the soils of penguin colonies also possessing the lowest bacterial diversity. However, all the soils influenced by the presence of marine animals were dominated by bacteria belonging to Gammaproteobacteria, particularly those of the genus Rhodanobacter. Therefore, we conclude that the modification of soil nutrient composition by marine vertebrates promotes specific groups of bacteria, which could play an important role in the recycling of nutrients in terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lía Ramírez-Fernández Nicole Trefault Margarita Carú Julieta Orlando |
author_facet |
Lía Ramírez-Fernández Nicole Trefault Margarita Carú Julieta Orlando |
author_sort |
Lía Ramírez-Fernández |
title |
Seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. |
title_short |
Seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. |
title_full |
Seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. |
title_fullStr |
Seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. |
title_sort |
seabird and pinniped shape soil bacterial communities of their settlements in cape shirreff, antarctica. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209887 https://doaj.org/article/2b8ab7239f7b4c49ad254ade6d214d2e |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.500,-60.500,-62.600,-62.600) ENVELOPE(-60.792,-60.792,-62.459,-62.459) ENVELOPE(-60.800,-60.800,-62.417,-62.417) |
geographic |
Antarctic Livingston Island Shirreff Cape Shirreff |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Livingston Island Shirreff Cape Shirreff |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Antarctica Elephant Seals Livingston Island Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seals Antarctica Elephant Seals Livingston Island Southern Elephant Seals |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 1, p e0209887 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209887 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209887 https://doaj.org/article/2b8ab7239f7b4c49ad254ade6d214d2e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209887 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e0209887 |
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1766145608297480192 |