Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range)
Snow and ice algae are cold tolerant algae growing on the surface of snow and ice, and they play an important role in the carbon cycles for glaciers and snowfields in the world. Seasonal and altitudinal variations in seven major taxa of algae (green algae and cyanobacteria) were investigated on the...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:be86bca945134d54bee1db5804c19fd9 2023-09-05T13:11:20+02:00 Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range) Nozomu Takeuchi 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035002 https://doaj.org/article/be86bca945134d54bee1db5804c19fd9 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035002 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035002 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/be86bca945134d54bee1db5804c19fd9 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 8, Iss 3, p 035002 (2013) snow algae glacier Alaska community structure Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035002 2023-08-13T00:37:31Z Snow and ice algae are cold tolerant algae growing on the surface of snow and ice, and they play an important role in the carbon cycles for glaciers and snowfields in the world. Seasonal and altitudinal variations in seven major taxa of algae (green algae and cyanobacteria) were investigated on the Gulkana glacier in Alaska at six different elevations from May to September in 2001. The snow algal communities and their biomasses changed over time and elevation. Snow algae were rarely observed on the glacier in May although air temperature had been above 0 ° C since the middle of the month and surface snow had melted. In June, algae appeared in the lower areas of the glacier, where the ablation ice surface was exposed. In August, the distribution of algae was extended to the upper parts of the glacier as the snow line was elevated. In September, the glacier surface was finally covered with new winter snow, which terminated algal growth in the season. Mean algal biomass of the study sites continuously increased and reached 6.3 × 10 μl m ^−2 in cell volume or 13 mg carbon m ^−2 in September. The algal community was dominated by Chlamydomonas nivalis on the snow surface, and by Ancylonema nordenskiöldii and Mesotaenium berggrenii on the ice surface throughout the melting season. Other algae were less abundant and appeared in only a limited area of the glacier. Results in this study suggest that algae on both snow and ice surfaces significantly contribute to the net production of organic carbon on the glacier and substantially affect surface albedo of the snow and ice during the melting season. Article in Journal/Newspaper alaska range glacier glaciers ice algae Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Environmental Research Letters 8 3 035002 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
snow algae glacier Alaska community structure Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
snow algae glacier Alaska community structure Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Nozomu Takeuchi Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range) |
topic_facet |
snow algae glacier Alaska community structure Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Snow and ice algae are cold tolerant algae growing on the surface of snow and ice, and they play an important role in the carbon cycles for glaciers and snowfields in the world. Seasonal and altitudinal variations in seven major taxa of algae (green algae and cyanobacteria) were investigated on the Gulkana glacier in Alaska at six different elevations from May to September in 2001. The snow algal communities and their biomasses changed over time and elevation. Snow algae were rarely observed on the glacier in May although air temperature had been above 0 ° C since the middle of the month and surface snow had melted. In June, algae appeared in the lower areas of the glacier, where the ablation ice surface was exposed. In August, the distribution of algae was extended to the upper parts of the glacier as the snow line was elevated. In September, the glacier surface was finally covered with new winter snow, which terminated algal growth in the season. Mean algal biomass of the study sites continuously increased and reached 6.3 × 10 μl m ^−2 in cell volume or 13 mg carbon m ^−2 in September. The algal community was dominated by Chlamydomonas nivalis on the snow surface, and by Ancylonema nordenskiöldii and Mesotaenium berggrenii on the ice surface throughout the melting season. Other algae were less abundant and appeared in only a limited area of the glacier. Results in this study suggest that algae on both snow and ice surfaces significantly contribute to the net production of organic carbon on the glacier and substantially affect surface albedo of the snow and ice during the melting season. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nozomu Takeuchi |
author_facet |
Nozomu Takeuchi |
author_sort |
Nozomu Takeuchi |
title |
Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range) |
title_short |
Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range) |
title_full |
Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range) |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an Alaskan glacier (Gulkana glacier in the Alaska range) |
title_sort |
seasonal and altitudinal variations in snow algal communities on an alaskan glacier (gulkana glacier in the alaska range) |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035002 https://doaj.org/article/be86bca945134d54bee1db5804c19fd9 |
genre |
alaska range glacier glaciers ice algae Alaska |
genre_facet |
alaska range glacier glaciers ice algae Alaska |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 8, Iss 3, p 035002 (2013) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035002 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035002 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/be86bca945134d54bee1db5804c19fd9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035002 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
035002 |
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1776204339994427392 |