Microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a Pacific Northwest snowpack
ABSTRACTSnow algae blooms are common occurrences in alpine systems and contribute to increasing snow and glacial ice melt rates. Despite the cosmopolitan distribution of snow algae, little is known about the role their life cycle plays in community composition and activity in snowpack. Mount Baker,...
Published in: | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
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2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:62e8058dafcd41388fbc2d3c2c0022e5 2024-09-15T17:49:03+00:00 Microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a Pacific Northwest snowpack Caleb G. Schuler Jill A. Mikucki 2023-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2023.2233785 https://doaj.org/article/62e8058dafcd41388fbc2d3c2c0022e5 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2023.2233785 https://doaj.org/toc/1523-0430 https://doaj.org/toc/1938-4246 doi:10.1080/15230430.2023.2233785 1938-4246 1523-0430 https://doaj.org/article/62e8058dafcd41388fbc2d3c2c0022e5 Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol 55, Iss 1 (2023) Snow algae Chloromonas snowpack microbial activity primary production Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2023.2233785 2024-08-05T17:49:40Z ABSTRACTSnow algae blooms are common occurrences in alpine systems and contribute to increasing snow and glacial ice melt rates. Despite the cosmopolitan distribution of snow algae, little is known about the role their life cycle plays in community composition and activity in snowpack. Mount Baker, in Washington, USA, is a rapidly changing alpine ecosystem. Here we present estimates of cellular biomass, microbial community composition, and primary productivity measurements associated with surficial snow algae blooms and a vertical profile within a snow pit to characterize the microbial ecology of this snowpack system. Chloromonas was the most abundant algae detected in our samples. Sphingobacteriaceae were the most dominant bacteria in samples where fungi were the most abundant eukaryote, whereas Chitinophagaceae dominated when Chlorophyceae were the most abundant eukaryote. In a snow pit vertical profile, we observed more algae in the green-pigmented, flagellated life cycle stage at depth (~30 cm below the surface) than at the surface where the astaxanthin-rich, aplanospore life cycle stage dominated. Higher resolution analyses revealed that Chloromonas-associated photosynthesis transcripts were more abundant at depth than at the surface of the snowpack. These results suggest that there is a photosynthetic niche within alpine snowpack that has unknown effects on the carbon budget and provides potentially undetected primary productivity resulting in a “cryptic” photosynthetic system. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 55 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Snow algae Chloromonas snowpack microbial activity primary production Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Snow algae Chloromonas snowpack microbial activity primary production Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 Caleb G. Schuler Jill A. Mikucki Microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a Pacific Northwest snowpack |
topic_facet |
Snow algae Chloromonas snowpack microbial activity primary production Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
ABSTRACTSnow algae blooms are common occurrences in alpine systems and contribute to increasing snow and glacial ice melt rates. Despite the cosmopolitan distribution of snow algae, little is known about the role their life cycle plays in community composition and activity in snowpack. Mount Baker, in Washington, USA, is a rapidly changing alpine ecosystem. Here we present estimates of cellular biomass, microbial community composition, and primary productivity measurements associated with surficial snow algae blooms and a vertical profile within a snow pit to characterize the microbial ecology of this snowpack system. Chloromonas was the most abundant algae detected in our samples. Sphingobacteriaceae were the most dominant bacteria in samples where fungi were the most abundant eukaryote, whereas Chitinophagaceae dominated when Chlorophyceae were the most abundant eukaryote. In a snow pit vertical profile, we observed more algae in the green-pigmented, flagellated life cycle stage at depth (~30 cm below the surface) than at the surface where the astaxanthin-rich, aplanospore life cycle stage dominated. Higher resolution analyses revealed that Chloromonas-associated photosynthesis transcripts were more abundant at depth than at the surface of the snowpack. These results suggest that there is a photosynthetic niche within alpine snowpack that has unknown effects on the carbon budget and provides potentially undetected primary productivity resulting in a “cryptic” photosynthetic system. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caleb G. Schuler Jill A. Mikucki |
author_facet |
Caleb G. Schuler Jill A. Mikucki |
author_sort |
Caleb G. Schuler |
title |
Microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a Pacific Northwest snowpack |
title_short |
Microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a Pacific Northwest snowpack |
title_full |
Microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a Pacific Northwest snowpack |
title_fullStr |
Microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a Pacific Northwest snowpack |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a Pacific Northwest snowpack |
title_sort |
microbial ecology and activity of snow algae within a pacific northwest snowpack |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2023.2233785 https://doaj.org/article/62e8058dafcd41388fbc2d3c2c0022e5 |
genre |
Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic |
op_source |
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol 55, Iss 1 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2023.2233785 https://doaj.org/toc/1523-0430 https://doaj.org/toc/1938-4246 doi:10.1080/15230430.2023.2233785 1938-4246 1523-0430 https://doaj.org/article/62e8058dafcd41388fbc2d3c2c0022e5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2023.2233785 |
container_title |
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
container_volume |
55 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1810290752007176192 |