The Pyramid Trough Wetland: environmental and biological diversity in a newly created Antarctic protected area

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorJungblut, Anne D.
dc.contributor.authorWood, Susanna A.
dc.contributor.authorHawes, Ian
dc.contributor.authorWebster-Brown, Jenny
dc.contributor.authorHarris, Colin
dc.date.accessioned2012-10-31T23:04:53Z
dc.date.available2012-10-31T23:04:53Z
dc.date.copyright2012-11-30
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractThe Pyramid Trough (Lat 78°S) has recently gained protection under the Antarctic Treaty system, owing to its wetland values. Here, we describe the microbial diversity of this system, with emphasis on cyanobacteria, and evaluate environment–biota relationships. Geochemistry separates ponds along hydrological gradients receiving recent inflows of dilute meltwater, from a second group that is rarely inundated and where chemistry is dominated by evaporation. Cyanobacteria-based microbial mats dominated the biota throughout. Mats were characterized by light-microscopy, pigment analysis, automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis and 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. A total of 17 morphotypes and 21 ribotypes were identified, mostly Oscillatoriales and several taxa that are usually rare in continental Antarctica, including Chroococcales and scytomin-rich Calothrix/Dichothrix, were abundant. There was a general decline in cyanobacterial diversity with increasing conductivity, but weak support for either differences in community composition between the two groups of ponds or sorting of taxa along the hydrological gradients with the pond groups. This implies a broad environmental tolerance and a prevalence of neutral assembly mechanisms in cyanobacterial communities of Antarctic wetland ecosystems.en_NZ
dc.identifier.citationJungblut, A. D., Wood, S. A., Hawes, I., Webster-Brown, J. and Harris, C. (2012), The Pyramid Trough Wetland: environmental and biological diversity in a newly created Antarctic protected area. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 82(2), 356-366.en_NZ
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/j.1574-6941.2012.01380.xen_NZ
dc.identifier.issn1574-6941
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10289/6777
dc.language.isoen
dc.relation.ispartofFEMS Microbiology Ecology
dc.subjectcyanobacteriaen_NZ
dc.subject16S rRNA geneen_NZ
dc.subjectmicrobial maten_NZ
dc.subjectwetlanden_NZ
dc.subjectAntarcticaen_NZ
dc.titleThe Pyramid Trough Wetland: environmental and biological diversity in a newly created Antarctic protected areaen_NZ
dc.typeJournal Articleen_NZ
Files
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Name: license.txt
Size: 1.71 KB
Kind: License
Collections
Science and Engineering Papers