Abstract
Global warming, as global problem, may particularly affect the vegetation of the Polar Regions. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) as pioneer communities perform a variety of important ecological functions under the harsh environmental conditions at high latitudes. The green algal genus Klebsormidium is a common member of BSCs and in the present study, the ecophysiological resilience to temperature stress of 20 strains from Arctic and Antarctica were investigated. All 20 Klebsormidium strains exhibited the capability to grow under a wide temperature range (from 6 to 28 °C) and hence were characterized as psychrotolerant with optimum growth temperatures between 18 °C and 26 °C. Statistical analyses showed no significant differences in optimum growth temperature. However, growth rates at optimal temperatures varied between strains and indicated infraspecific physiological plasticity. Furthermore, correlation with the sampling sites as well as different BSC types were examined but no significance was confirmed. Our results revealed that Polar Klebsormidium strains are able to survive such changing conditions, and even benefit from higher environmental temperatures.
Highlights
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are complex agglomerations formed by diverse phototrophic and heterotrophic organisms such as microalgae, cyanobacteria, lichens, bryophytes, bacteria, microfungi and microfauna (Belnap, 2006; Darby and Neher, 2016)
The Polar Regions are characterized by harsh environmental conditions such as low temperatures, a pronounced seasonality, scarcity of liquid water and strong solar radiation, and Klebsormidium has the potential to cope with these stressors (Elster et al, 2008; Karsten and Rindi, 2010; Kaplan et al, 2012; Holzinger and Karsten, 2013; Kitzing et al, 2014)
The results showed a wide range in the capability to growth with increasing temperatures in all investigated Klebsormidium strains (6–28◦C, Figure 2)
Summary
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are complex agglomerations formed by diverse phototrophic and heterotrophic organisms such as microalgae, cyanobacteria, lichens, bryophytes, bacteria, microfungi and microfauna (Belnap, 2006; Darby and Neher, 2016) These pioneer communities constitute the dominant vegetation cover on the temporarily snow- and ice-free soil surfaces of the Polar Regions and perform a wealth of ecological functions (Yoshitake et al, 2010; Williams et al, 2016). The knowledge on the capabilities of Polar Klebsormidium strains to cope with increasing temperatures due to the climate change is insufficient
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