Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in i
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TitleEvidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of AntarcticaAbstractNew evidence in aerobiology challenges the assumption that geographical isolation is an effective barrier to microbial transport. However, given the uncertainty with which aerobiological organisms are recruited into existing communities, the ultimate impact of microbial dispersal is difficult to assess. Here we use molecular genetic approaches to examine microbial communities inhabiting fumarolic soils on Mount Erebus, the southernmost geothermal site on Earth, to evaluate the ecological significance of global-scale microbial dispersal. There, hot, fumarolic soils provide an effective environmental filter to test the viability of organisms that have been distributed via aeolian transport over geological time. We find that cosmopolitan thermophiles dominate the surface, whereas endemic Archaea and members of poorly understood Bacterial candidate divisions dominate the immediate subsurface. These results imply that aeolian processes readily disperse viable organisms globally, where they are incorporated into pre-existing complex communities of endemic and cosmopolitan taxa. Copyright 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.AcknowledgementsFinancial support was provided by grant UOW0802 from the New Zealand Marsden Fund to SCC and IRM and a CRE award from the National Geographic Society to S.C.C. Antarctic logistic support for Event K-023 was provided by Antarctica New Zealand. Additional salary support was provided by the New Zealand Marsden fund to C.K.L. (UOW1003) and C.W.H. (UOW0802). We thank Rochelle Soo and Joseph J. Grzymski for assistance in collection of samples, Grace Tiao for assistance in physicochemical analyses and Sarah Kelly for assistance in amplicon library preparation.
TypeArticleCitationHerbold, C., Lee, C., McDonald, I. and Cary, S. (2014). Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica. Nature Communications, 5 IdentifierHerbold2014aRelevancerank5
Cary, S., Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in i , [Herbold2014a]. Antarctica NZ, accessed 07/02/2025, https://adam.antarcticanz.govt.nz/nodes/view/63550, 10.1038/ncomms4875