Clive Howard-Williams

Community structure and pigment organisation of cyanobacteria-dominated microbial mats in Antarctica

Benthic microbial mat communities were sampled from 20 lakes, ponds and streams of the McMurdo Sound region, Antarctica. At least five distinct assemblages could be differentiated by their cyanobacterial species composition, pigment content and vertical structure. The most widely occurring freshwater communities were dominated by thin-trichome (0·5–3 µm) oscillatoriacean species that formed benthic films up to several millimetres thick. ‘Lift-off mats’ produced mucilaginous mats 1–5 cm thick at the surface and edge of certain ponds. Another group of oscillatoriacean communities was characteristic of hypersaline pond environments; these communities were dominated by species with thicker trichomes such as Oscillatoria priestleyi. Black mucilaginous layers of Nostoc commune were widely distributed in aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats. Dark brown sheath pigmentation was also characteristic of less cohesive mats and crusts dominated by Pleurocapsa, Gloeocapsa and Calothrix. High performance liquid chromatograp...

ANTARCTIC CYANOBACTERIA: LIGHT, NUTRIENTS, AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN THE MICROBIAL MAT ENVIRONMENT1

The microenvironmental and photosynthetic characteristics of Antarctic microbial mats were measured in a series of ponds near McMurdo Sound. As elsewhere in Antarctica, these cold‐water benthic communities were dominated by oscillatoriacean cyanobacteria. Despite large variations in mat thickness, surface morphology, and color, all of the communities had a similar pigment organization, with a surface carotenoid‐rich layer that overlaid a deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) enriched in phycocyanin as well as chlorophyll a. Spectroradiometric analyses showed that the DCM population inhabited an orange‐red shade environment. In several of the mats, the deep‐living trichomes migrated up to the surface of the mat within 2 h in response to a 10‐fold decrease in surface irradiance. The euphotic layer of the mats was supersaturated in oxygen and contained ammonium and dissolved reactive phosphorus concentrations in excess of 100 mg N·m−3 or P·m−3. Integral photosynthesis by core samples was saturated at low irradiances and varied two‐ to threefold throughout the continuous 24‐h radiation cycle. Oxygen microelectrode analyses showed that the photosynthetic rates were slow to negligible near the surface and maximal in the DCM. These compressed, nutrient‐rich euphotic zones have some properties analogous to planktonic systems, but the integrated photosynthetic responses of the community reflect the strong self‐shading within the mat and physiological dominance by the motile, DCM populations.

The spatial structure of Antarctic biodiversity

Patterns of environmental spatial structure lie at the heart of the most fundamental and familiar patterns of diversity on Earth. Antarctica contains some of the strongest environmental gradients on the planet and therefore provides an ideal study ground to test hypotheses on the relevance of environmental variability for biodiversity. To answer the pivotal question, “How does spatial variation in physical and biological environmental properties across the Antarctic drive biodiversity?” we have synthesized current knowledge on environmental variability across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine Antarctic biomes and related this to the observed biotic patterns. The most important physical driver of Antarctic terrestrial communities is the availability of liquid water, itself driven by solar irradiance intensity. Patterns of biota distribution are further strongly influenced by the historical development of any given location or region, and by geographical barriers. In freshwater ecosystems, free water is also crucial, with further important influences from salinity, nutrient availability, oxygenation, and characteristics of ice cover and extent. In the marine biome there does not appear to be one major driving force, with the exception of the oceanographic boundary of the Polar Front. At smaller spatial scales, ice cover, ice scour, and salinity gradients are clearly important determinants of diversity at habitat and community level. Stochastic and extreme events remain an important driving force in all environments, particularly in the context of local extinction and colonization or recolonization, as well as that of temporal environmental variability. Our synthesis demonstrates that the Antarctic continent and surrounding oceans provide an ideal study ground to develop new biogeographical models, including life history and physiological traits, and to address questions regarding biological responses to environmental variability and change.

Desiccation and recovery of antarctic cyanobacterial mats

SummaryThe ability of cyanobacterial mats from Antarctic ponds and streams to recover from desiccation is described. Mats dominated by Nostoc dehydrated rapidly and were dry within 5 h of exposure. Nostoc mats recovered to pre-desiccation rates of photosynthesis and respiration within as little as 10 min of rewetting. Recovery of acetylene reduction activity was slower (>24 h). Phormidium dominated mats were less tolerant of desiccation, and recovery on rewetting from air-drying was not complete after 10 days. Viable diaspores were, however, found in Phormidium mats which had been exposed for 3 years. Partial hydration during aerial exposure improved the survival of Phormidium mats, but appeared to slow the recovery of Nostoc mats on subsequent rewetting.

Ice Shelf Microbial Ecosystems in the High Arctic and Implications for Life on Snowball Earth

Abstract The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf (83°N, 74°W) is the largest remaining section of thick (>10 m) landfast sea ice along the northern coastline of Ellesmere Island, Canada. Extensive meltwater lakes and streams occur on the surface of the ice and are colonized by photosynthetic microbial mat communities. This High Arctic cryo-ecosystem is similar in several of its physical, biological and geochemical features to the McMurdo Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The ice-mats in both polar regions are dominated by filamentous cyanobacteria but also contain diatoms, chlorophytes, flagellates, ciliates, nematodes, tardigrades and rotifers. The luxuriant Ward Hunt consortia also contain high concentrations (107–108 cm–2) of viruses and heterotrophic bacteria. During periods of extensive ice cover, such as glaciations during the Proterozoic, cryotolerant mats of the type now found in these polar ice shelf ecosystems would have provided refugia for the survival, growth and evolution of a variety of organisms, including multicellular eukaryotes.

Distribution and biological properties of oceanic water masses around the South Island, New Zealand

Abstract The distribution of phytoplankton and the diversity of environmental conditions for their growth around the South Island, New Zealand, were examined in May 1989 by way of chlorophyll a fluorescence profiling in combination with discrete sample analysis of nutrients and particulates, CTD‐profiles, and concurrent satellite images of sea surface temperature (SST). A composite of 7 overlaid SST images from the period of the cruise emphasised the strong north‐south and east‐west gradients in the oceanic environment. Water column sampling coupled with SST imagery was used to examine the frontal structure in Cook Strait, upwelling along the West Coast, gradients across the Solander Trough and through Foveaux Strait, and oceanographic features associated with the Subtropical Convergence off the East Coast and over Chatham Rise. A correlation analysis of the near‐surface water properties showed the zonal relationships between nutrients, nutrient ratios, and temperature, but also underscored the strong loc...

Microbial biomass, photosynthesis and chlorophyll a related pigments in the ponds of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica

In this study we examine the magnitude and variability of benthic microbial biomass in a contrasting series of ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. We also assess the photoautotrophically active portion of this biomass by the relationship between photosynthetic rates and chlorophyll a

Nitrogen dynamics in two antarctic streams

The many glacier meltwater streams of southern Victoria Land flow through catchments where life forms are almost entirely microbial. Allochthonous inputs of nitrogen from two study streams near McMurdo Sound were derived mostly from the melting glaciers (ca. 100–200 mg N m−3) with some originating from N2-fixation by heterocystous cyanobacteria (max. 939 mg N m−2 year−1). Thirty to fifty per cent of the glacier derived N was dissolved organic N and a major proportion of this was identified as urea N which was utilised by the rich algal and cyanobacterial mats in the streams. A nutrient budget for Fryxell Stream was estimated, quantifying uptake of urea-N and dissolved inorganic N and the release of dissolved organic (non urea) and particulate N by the stream communities. An index of in-stream nitrogen processing, the Net Uptake Length Constant in these streams was compared with that from temperate climates and was found to be similar. Despite the influence of low temperatures on microbial activity (mean daily water temperature = 5 °C) nutrient removal rates from these antarctic streams are high because of the large standing stock of microbial biomass there.

Measuring ecosystem response in a rapidly changing environment: the Latitudinal Gradient Project

In the face of climate variability and change, science in Antarctica needs to address increasingly complex questions. Individual small studies are being replaced by multinational and multidisciplinary research programmes. The Latitudinal Gradient Project (LGP) is one such approach that combines a series of smaller studies under a single broad hypothesis to provide information that uses a gradient in latitude as a surrogate for environmental gradients, particularly climate. In this way latitudinal differences can be used to indicate climate change differences. The Key Questions for the LGP were developed via national workshops in Italy, New Zealand, and the USA and via two international workshops at SCAR conferences. Science and logistics are currently jointly shared by New Zealand, Italy and the USA, and cover marine and inland ecosystem studies along the Victoria Land coast from 72° to 78°S with plans for extensions to 85°S. The LGP forms part of the SCAR Programme Evolution and Biodiversity in Antarctica. This Special Issue summarizes some of the work in the first three years of the LGP (2002–2005), between McMurdo Sound and Cape Hallett, to form a basis for future comparative studies as the research shifts along the latitudinal span in the next decade.

Environmental and Biological Variability in the McMurdo Ice Shelf Ecosystem

The McMurdo Ice Shelf is an ablation region on the northwestern side of the Ross Ice Shelf. The surface forms the largest non-marine aquatic ecosystem in the McMurdo Sound region with an interlinking system of lakes, pools and streams occuring across more than 1500 km2. Two major types of ice shelf morphology with different physical and biological characteristics were distinguished: “Pinnacle Ice” with many small interconnected pools and streams, and “Undulating Ice” with continuous moraine cover and discrete pools and lakes up to 104 m2. The flora of these is dominated by benthic rather than planktonic communities. Cyanobacteria which coat the base of the pools with mats and films of varying thickness are generally the most commonly occurring and abundant organisms. Benthic diatoms and coccoid chlorophytes are also found throughout the system but tend to dominate in the waters of the Pinnacle Ice rather than the Undulating Ice. There are large variations in the conductivity and nutrient content of these waters, with a marine tidal influence in some parts. The water bodies are subject to continual change as the Ice Shelf moves, with marked temporal variability in environmental conditions on a diel, seasonal and long-term (years to decades) basis. This area contains the most extensive microbial growths in southern Victoria Land and is a potential inoculum source of micro-organisms for the entire region.