Abstract
Summary Snow algae are found in snowfields across cold regions of the planet, forming highly visible red and green patches below and on the snow surface. In Antarctica, they contribute significantly to terrestrial net primary productivity due to the paucity of land plants, but our knowledge of these communities is limited. Here we provide the first description of the metabolic and species diversity of green and red snow algae communities from four locations in Ryder Bay (Adelaide Island, 68°S), Antarctic Peninsula.During the 2015 austral summer season, we collected samples to measure the metabolic composition of snow algae communities and determined the species composition of these communities using metabarcoding.Green communities were protein‐rich, had a high chlorophyll content and contained many metabolites associated with nitrogen and amino acid metabolism. Red communities had a higher carotenoid content and contained more metabolites associated with carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism. Chloromonas, Chlamydomonas and Chlorella were found in green blooms but only Chloromonas was detected in red blooms. Both communities also contained bacteria, protists and fungi.These data show the complexity and variation within snow algae communities in Antarctica and provide initial insights into the contribution they make to ecosystem functioning.
Highlights
Terrestrial life in Antarctica is largely found on the estimated 0.18% of the continent’s surface that is ice-free for at least part of the year (Convey, 2017; Burton-Johnson et al, 2016)
Our objective was to carry out the first estimate of the metabolic and species diversity of snow algae communities collected from four islands in Ryder Bay, adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula
Based on principal component analysis (PCA), there were specific FT-IR wavenumber regions that were strongly associated with green (1489–1581, 1589–1664 cm-1) or red
Summary
Terrestrial life in Antarctica is largely found on the estimated 0.18% of the continent’s surface that is ice-free for at least part of the year (Convey, 2017; Burton-Johnson et al, 2016). The Antarctic Peninsula is the most vegetated region of Antarctica, only 1.34% of exposed ground has plant cover (Fretwell et al, 2011; Burton-Johnson et al, 2016). The actual area of cover by autotrophs may be much higher, as ground-truthing of satellite imagery has revealed that in many places vegetation comprises patches of bryophytes, lichens and higher plants on exposed ground, and snow algae. Snow algae blooms are often well developed in coastal snowfields as highly visible red and green patches below and on the snow surface where liquid water is present (Fogg, 1967; Broady, 1986; Müller et al, 1998). Many snow algal communities consist of either a vegetative stage, seen as green patches in the snow, with Chloromonas and Chlamydomonas species frequently being the major algal taxa, or an encystment phase (which may be vegetative), in which the cells have accumulated the keto-carotenoid astaxanthin, giving rise to red snow patches
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