Large cryoconite aggregates on a Svalbard glacier support a diverse microbial community including ammonia-oxidizing archaea

The aggregation of surface debris particles on melting glaciers into larger units (cryoconite) provides microenvironments for various microorganisms and metabolic processes. Here we investigate the microbial community on the surface of Aldegondabreen, a valley glacier in Svalbard which is supplied w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Research Letters
Main Authors: Jakub D Zarsky, Marek Stibal, Andy Hodson, Birgit Sattler, Morten Schostag, Lars H Hansen, Carsten S Jacobsen, Roland Psenner
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2013
Subjects:
glacier
cryoconite
microbial diversity
nitrogen
ammonia oxidation
Svalbard
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
TD1-1066
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Science
Q
Physics
QC1-999
Aldegondabreen
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035044
https://doaj.org/article/63f529921c244cd4a1f25a58870fdefe
Description
Summary:The aggregation of surface debris particles on melting glaciers into larger units (cryoconite) provides microenvironments for various microorganisms and metabolic processes. Here we investigate the microbial community on the surface of Aldegondabreen, a valley glacier in Svalbard which is supplied with carbon and nutrients from different sources across its surface, including colonies of seabirds. We used a combination of geochemical analysis (of surface debris, ice and meltwater), quantitative polymerase chain reactions (targeting the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid and amoA genes), pyrosequencing and multivariate statistical analysis to suggest possible factors driving the ecology of prokaryotic microbes on the surface of Aldegondabreen and their potential role in nitrogen cycling. The combination of high nutrient input with subsidy from the bird colonies, supraglacial meltwater flow and the presence of fine, clay-like particles supports the formation of centimetre-scale cryoconite aggregates in some areas of the glacier surface. We show that a diverse microbial community is present, dominated by the cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, that are well-known in supraglacial environments. Importantly, ammonia-oxidizing archaea were detected in the aggregates for the first time on an Arctic glacier.

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