Ecosystem function decays by fungal outbreaks in Antarctic microbial mats

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Velázquez, David, López-Bueno, Alberto, Aguirre de Cárcer, Daniel, de los Ríos, Asunción, Alcamí, Antonio, Quesada, Antonio
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2016
• Subjects: Article; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Livingston Island; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789741/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26972923; https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22954

Antarctica harbours a remarkably diverse range of freshwater bodies and terrestrial ecosystems, where microbial mats are considered the most important systems in terms of biomass and metabolic capabilities. We describe the presence of lysis plaque-like macroscopic blighted patches within the predomi...