Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure
Western Antarctica, one of the fastest warming locations on Earth, is a unique environment that is underexplored with regards to biodiversity. Although pelagic microbial communities in the Southern Ocean and coastal Antarctic waters have been well studied, there are fewer investigations of benthic c...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284 https://doaj.org/article/782e7f7749634b1cab2d53f6d50828be |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:782e7f7749634b1cab2d53f6d50828be 2023-05-15T13:49:53+02:00 Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure Deric R Learman Michael W Henson J. Cameron eThrash Ben eTemperton Pamela M Brannock Scott R Santos Andrew R Mahon Kenneth M Halanych 2016-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284 https://doaj.org/article/782e7f7749634b1cab2d53f6d50828be EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284 https://doaj.org/article/782e7f7749634b1cab2d53f6d50828be Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 7 (2016) microbial ecology biogeochemistry aquatic microbiology Antarctica benthic communities Microbiology QR1-502 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284 2022-12-31T01:48:31Z Western Antarctica, one of the fastest warming locations on Earth, is a unique environment that is underexplored with regards to biodiversity. Although pelagic microbial communities in the Southern Ocean and coastal Antarctic waters have been well studied, there are fewer investigations of benthic communities and most have a focused geographic range. We sampled surface sediment from 24 sites across a 5,500 km region of Western Antarctica (covering the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea) to examine relationships between microbial communities and sediment geochemistry. Sequencing of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes showed microbial communities in sediments from the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) and Western Antarctica (WA), including the Ross, Amundsen, and Bellingshausen Seas, could be distinguished by correlations with organic matter concentrations and stable isotope fractionation (total organic carbon; TOC, nitrogen, and δ13C). Overall, samples from the AP were higher in nutrient content (TOC, nitrogen, and NH4+) and communities in these samples had higher relative abundances of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) classified as the diatom, Chaetoceros, a marine cercozoan and four OTUs classified as Cytophaga or Flavobacteria. As these OTUs were strongly correlated with TOC, the data suggests the diatoms could be a source of organic matter and the Bacteroidetes and cercozoan are grazers that consume the organic matter. Additionally, samples from WA have lower nutrients and were dominated by Thaumarchaeota, which could be related to their known ability to thrive as lithotrophs. This study documents the largest analysis of benthic microbial communities to date in the Southern Ocean, representing almost half the continental shoreline of Antarctica, and documents trophic interactions and coupling of pelagic and benthic communities. Our results indicate potential modifications in carbon sequestration processes related to change in community composition, identifying a prospective mechanism that links climate change to carbon availability. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea Ross Sea Weddell Frontiers in Microbiology 7 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
microbial ecology biogeochemistry aquatic microbiology Antarctica benthic communities Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
microbial ecology biogeochemistry aquatic microbiology Antarctica benthic communities Microbiology QR1-502 Deric R Learman Michael W Henson J. Cameron eThrash Ben eTemperton Pamela M Brannock Scott R Santos Andrew R Mahon Kenneth M Halanych Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure |
topic_facet |
microbial ecology biogeochemistry aquatic microbiology Antarctica benthic communities Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Western Antarctica, one of the fastest warming locations on Earth, is a unique environment that is underexplored with regards to biodiversity. Although pelagic microbial communities in the Southern Ocean and coastal Antarctic waters have been well studied, there are fewer investigations of benthic communities and most have a focused geographic range. We sampled surface sediment from 24 sites across a 5,500 km region of Western Antarctica (covering the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea) to examine relationships between microbial communities and sediment geochemistry. Sequencing of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes showed microbial communities in sediments from the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) and Western Antarctica (WA), including the Ross, Amundsen, and Bellingshausen Seas, could be distinguished by correlations with organic matter concentrations and stable isotope fractionation (total organic carbon; TOC, nitrogen, and δ13C). Overall, samples from the AP were higher in nutrient content (TOC, nitrogen, and NH4+) and communities in these samples had higher relative abundances of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) classified as the diatom, Chaetoceros, a marine cercozoan and four OTUs classified as Cytophaga or Flavobacteria. As these OTUs were strongly correlated with TOC, the data suggests the diatoms could be a source of organic matter and the Bacteroidetes and cercozoan are grazers that consume the organic matter. Additionally, samples from WA have lower nutrients and were dominated by Thaumarchaeota, which could be related to their known ability to thrive as lithotrophs. This study documents the largest analysis of benthic microbial communities to date in the Southern Ocean, representing almost half the continental shoreline of Antarctica, and documents trophic interactions and coupling of pelagic and benthic communities. Our results indicate potential modifications in carbon sequestration processes related to change in community composition, identifying a prospective mechanism that links climate change to carbon availability. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Deric R Learman Michael W Henson J. Cameron eThrash Ben eTemperton Pamela M Brannock Scott R Santos Andrew R Mahon Kenneth M Halanych |
author_facet |
Deric R Learman Michael W Henson J. Cameron eThrash Ben eTemperton Pamela M Brannock Scott R Santos Andrew R Mahon Kenneth M Halanych |
author_sort |
Deric R Learman |
title |
Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure |
title_short |
Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure |
title_full |
Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure |
title_fullStr |
Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure |
title_sort |
biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284 https://doaj.org/article/782e7f7749634b1cab2d53f6d50828be |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea Ross Sea Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Weddell Sea Ross Sea Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ross Sea Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 7 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284 https://doaj.org/article/782e7f7749634b1cab2d53f6d50828be |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00284 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
7 |
_version_ |
1766252481013088256 |