Response of Antarctic cryoconite microbial communities to li

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TitleResponse of Antarctic cryoconite microbial communities to lightAbstractMicrobial communities on polar glacier surfaces are found dispersed on the ice surface, or concentrated in cryoconite holes and cryolakes, which are accumulations of debris covered by a layer of ice for some or all of the year. The ice lid limits the penetration of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) to the sediment layer, since the ice attenuates up to 99% of incoming radiation. This suite of field and laboratory experiments demonstrates that PAR is an important control on primary production in cryoconite and cryolake ecosystems. Increased light intensity increased efficiency of primary production in controlled laboratory incubations of debris from the surface of Joyce Glacier, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. However, when light intensity was increased to levels near that received on the ice surface, without the protection of an ice lid, efficiency decreased and measurements of photophysiology showed that the communities suffered light stress. The communities are therefore well adapted to low light levels. Comparison with Arctic cryoconite communities, which are typically not covered by an ice lid for the majority of the ablation season, showed that these organisms were also stressed by high light, so they must employ strategies to protect against photodamage. â"' FEMS 2016.AcknowledgementsFieldwork was conducted with the McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER and Antarctica New Zealand K064 site teams whose support is gratefully acknowledged, with logistics provided by Raytheon Polar Services and PHI Helicopters. James Bradley collected some of the Leverett Glacier cryoconite samples. Laboratory work was conducted at the University of Bristol's LOWTEX facility and the Cardiff Cold Climate lab. We acknowledge two anonymous reviewers whose suggestions improved the manuscript.

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1st AuthorBagshaw, E.AuthorBagshaw, E.Wadham, J.Tranter, M.Perkins, R.Morgan, A.Williamson, C.Fountain, A.Fitzsimons, S.Dubnick, A.Year2016JournalFEMS Microbiology EcologyVolume92Number6Pages1/11/2017DOI10.1093/femsec/fiw076URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....50fc47e2ad725b37c691b282cKeywordsrank5Author KeywordsCryoconiteGlaciersPARPhotophysiology

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TypeArticleCitationBagshaw, E., Wadham, J., Tranter, M., Perkins, R., Morgan, A., Williamson, C., Fountain, A., Fitzsimons, S. and Dubnick, A. (2016). Response of Antarctic cryoconite microbial communities to light. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 92(6): 1-11 IdentifierBagshaw2016Relevancerank5