Search

Ciliate diversity was investigated in situ in freshwater ecosystems of the maritime (South Shetland Islands, mainly Livingston Island, 63°S) and continental Antarctic (Victoria Land, 75°S), and the High Arctic (Svalbard, 79°N). In total, 334 species from 117 genera were identified in both polar regions, i.e. 210 spp. (98 genera) in the Arctic, 120 spp. (73 genera) in the maritime and 59 spp. (41 genera) in the continental Antarctic. Forty-four species (13% of all species) were common to both Arctic and Antarctic freshwater bodies and 19 spp. to both Antarctic areas (12% of all species). Many taxa are cosmopolitans but some, e.g. Stentor and Metopus spp., are not, and over 20% of the taxa found in any one of the three areas are new to science. Cluster analysis revealed that species similarity between different biotopes (soil, moss) within a study area was higher than between similar biotopes in different regions. Distinct differences in the species composition of freshwater and terrestrial communities indicate that most limnetic ciliates are not ubiquitously distributed. These observations and the low congruence in species composition between both polar areas, within Antarctica and between high- and temperate-latitude water bodies, respectively, suggest that long-distance dispersal of limnetic ciliates is restricted and that some species have a limited geographical distribution.

The FT-Raman spectra are described of green and red snow algae, Chlamydomona, involved in the colonization of exposed surfaces of the McLeod Glacier, Jane Col, Signy Island, situated at the northern edge of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The protective biochemicals produced by these extremophilic algae give rise to the so-called watermelon snow of Alpine regions. The red colour of the senescent algae is shown to derive from the accumulation of carotenoids and a deficiency of chlorophyll believed to arise from UV-radiation induced breakdown into phaecophytin. A comparison of the Raman spectra of young (green) and old (red) algae is effected and possible bio-markers for spectral detection on extraterrestrial icy moons and planets are identified.

Our understanding of Lake Vostok, the huge subglacial lake beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, has improved recently through the identification of key physical and chemical interactions between the ice sheet and the lake. The north of the lake, where the overlying ice sheet is thickest, is characterized by subglacial melting, whereas freezing of lake water occurs in the south, resulting in ∼210 m of ice accretion to the underside of the ice sheet. The accreted ice contains lower concentrations of the impurities normally found in glacier ice, suggesting a net transfer of material from meltwater into the lake. The small numbers of microbes found so far within the accreted ice have DNA profiles similar to those of contemporary surface microbes. Microbiologists expect, however, that Lake Vostok, and other subglacial lakes, will harbour unique species, particularly within the deeper waters and associated sediments. The extreme environments of subglacial lakes are characterized by high pressures, low temperatures, permanent darkness, limited nutrient availability, and oxygen concentrations that are derived from the ice that provides the meltwater. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Water samples from a range of fresh-water Antarctic lakes on Signy Island (South Orkney Islands: 60°45′S, 45 °38′W) were examined for the presence of virus-like particles (VLPs) during the 1998/1999 field season. It was discovered that VLPs were ubiquitous, morphologically diverse and abundant, with high concentrations ranging from 4.9 × 106 ml−1 to 3.1 × 107 ml−1. Likely hosts include bacteria, cyanobacteria and eukaryotic algae. In addition, an unusually large virus morphotype was observed with a head diameter 370 × 330 nm and a tail 1.3 μm long.

1 The population density, diversity and productivity of the microbial plankton in an oligotrophic maritime Antarctic lake were studied for a 15-month period between December 1994 and February 1996. 2 In the lake, concentrations of nutrients and dissolved organic carbon were uniformly low, temperature varied over a small annual range of 0.1–3 °C, and the surface was ice-covered except during a period of approximately 6 weeks in summer. 3 The total of 57 morphotypes of protozoa observed during the study is a higher taxonomic diversity than previously reported from continental Antarctic lakes, but lower than that found in more eutrophic maritime Antarctic lakes. Likewise, planktonic abundance and productivity were lower than has been reported in other lakes on Signy Island, but generally higher than those of lakes on the Antarctic continent. 4 There were marked seasonal and interannual variations in planktonic population density. 5 Chlorophyll a concentrations ranged from undetectable to 4.2 µg L-1 and the greatest rate of primary productivity measured was 4.5 mg C m-3 h-1. The phytoplankton was dominated by small chlorophytes and chrysophytes, with phototrophic nanoflagellate abundance ranging from 1.1 × 103 to 1.2 × 107 L-1. 6 Bacterial densities of 3.6 × 108 to 1.9 × 1010 L-1 were recorded and bacterial productivity reached a peak of 0.36 µg C L-1 h-1. Numbers of heterotrophic nanoflagellates between 5.0 × 104 and 1.8 × 107 L-1, and of ciliates from undetectable to 1.1 × 104 L-1 were observed. Naked amoebae were usually rare, but occasionally reached peaks of up to 1.5 × 103 L-1.

Numerous freshwater lakes have developed on the three small ice-free peninsulas that constitute the Larsemann Hills, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. All the lakes are ultra-oligotrophic and ice covered for 9-11 months each year, resulting in a photosynthetically distinctive seasonal environment with uniformly low water temperatures. The benthic communities are dominated by thick cyanobacterial mats in the deeper parts of all but the few shallow brackish lakes. In these brackish lakes, the photosynthetically active mats are located in the lake margins as the deeper parts of these lakes are strongly anoxic under winter ice cover. In the more freshwater lakes, a depth-related zonation of mat type was observed, which showed pigment modifications to a substantial depth consistent with measured penetration of PAR and UV radiation, even under the extensive ice cover. The thick organic deposits and intact mat structure at depth suggest slow decomposition rates within the mats. The plankton are almost entirely microbial, with two forms of planktonic rotifer and the cladoceran, Daphniopsis studeri present in very low numbers. A desmid, Cosmarium, occurred in relatively large numbers in Heart Lake, a coastal system. The desmid group is very rare in continental Antarctica. Abundances of bacteria, heterotrophic and phototrophic nanoflagellates, and ciliates were consistently low. Microbial community diversity is low when compared to other sites in continental Antarctica (e.g. Dry Valleys) but broadly comparable to that of freshwater lakes in the nearby Vestfold Hills. The invertebrate grazer is present in such low numbers that food web structure can be considered to have a single trophic level based on the microbial loop. In view of the sparse autotrophic plankton and barren catchments, DOC supply to the microbial heterotrophs was probably derived in large part from the benthic mats rather than from planktonic photosynthetic exudates.

The ability of the Utah energy-balance and snowmelt model (UEB) to simulate decline in snow water equivalent (SWE) at an extreme location was assessed. Field data were collected at Paternoster Valley, Signy Island, South Orkney Islands (60°43′S) during the austral summer of 1996–97. This is the first application of UEB in a maritime Antarctic site. UEB is a physically based snow melt model using a lumped snow-pack representation with primary state variables SWE and snow pack-energy content (U). Meteorological inputs are air temperature, wind speed, humidity, precipitation and total incoming solar and longwave radiation. The Paternoster Valley catchment was subdivided into eight non-contiguous terrain classes for sampling and modelling using a geographical information system (GIS). Simulations of SWE in each of these classes were compared พ with field observations. It is shown that initial U and snow-surface thermal conductance (Ks) affect model simulations. Good approximations of SWE depletion are obtained using measured incoming solar radiation to drive the model but there are shortcomings in the characterization of long wave radiation and sensible-heat fluxes.

The Southern Ocean is the largest of the high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll (HNLC) regions of the world ocean. Phytoplankton production fails to utilise completely the pool of inorganic nutrients in the euphotic zone, giving rise to low phytoplankton bio-mass and leaving relatively high summer nutrient concentrations. This enigma is of considerable significance for our understanding of the role of the oceans in the global carbon cycle. Various limiting factors have been considered: low light, low temperature, absence of necessary trace elements, grazing pressure and other means of biomass removal. The dynamics of nitrogen uptake by phytoplankton are of particular importance. Classically, nitrate mixed into the surface layer during winter provides the nitrogen pool for growth in the spring bloom. Some organic material is exported to depth, whilst the remainder is recycled, providing ammonium and other reduced species as nitrogenous substrates for growth during the remainder of the season. The oxidation state of the inorganic nitrogen supply thus identifies new and recycled carbon fixation. Whilst this is convenient “shorthand” for the nitrogen nutrition of carbon export in much of the ocean, it is an inappropriate model for the Southern Ocean. Here, nitrate and ammonium use are simultaneous, and nitrate is never exhausted by the annual phytoplankton production. We speculate that a range of environmental factors combine to make the large pool of nitrate partially inaccessible to phytoplankton. in addition to the documented effects of low iron availability and high ammonium concentrations, the low temperatures characteristic of the Southern Ocean may decrease nitrate availability because of the increased energetic overheads in its uptake and reduction. This in turn makes ammonium an important nitrogenous substrate, and its production by zooplankton and heterotrophic microorganisms is an important component of the plankton nitrogen cycle. There is some evidence that ammonium production by large grazing animals may stimulate phytoplankton growth. Microbial removal of nitrogen from sedimenting phytoplankton cells may result in local decoupling between the carbon and nitrogen cycles, allowing some reduced nitrogen to remain in the euphotic zone whilst carbon is exported to depth.

A large ultra-oligotrophic Antarctic freshwater lake, Crooked Lake, was investigated between January 1993 and November 1993. The water column supported a small phytoplankton community limited by temperature, nutrient availability and, seasonally, by low photosynthetically active radiation. Chlorophyll a concentrations were consistently low (

The dynamics of bacterioplankton and protozooplankton in two maritime Antarctic lakes (Heywood Lake and Sombre Lake, Signy Island, South Orkneys) were studied during the phase of ice break-out (December and early January 1994/95). The lakes are suffering animal-induced (fur seal) eutrophication, though Heywood Lake is most severely affected. Both lakes had morphologically diverse bacterial communities which increased during the study period, reaching maxima of 80 x 10 811 in Heywood Lake and 31.8 x 10" I"1 in Sombre Lake. Heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HN AN) reached a peak in late December with maxima of 40.6 x 1051-' in Sombre Lake and 174 x 1031"' in Heywood Lake. Phototrophic nanoflagellates (PNAN) peaked in late December after ice loss in Heywood Lake (63 x 1051"1), which coincided with a peak in a bloom of Chroomonas acuta which reached abundances of 1.0 x 10* 1-'. In Sombre Lake, ice persisted for a longer period and here PNAN reached their highest density at the end of the study period (around 70.0 x 1051')- Ciliate abundance reached high levels in Heywood Lake (>60001"1), while in Sombre Lake maximum abundance was 5681-1. Protozooplankton diversity was greater in the less-enriched Sombre Lake. Grazing rates of ciliates averaged 70.6 bacteria indiv.-' h1 in Heywood Lake and 119.3 bacteria indiv.-1 Ir1 in Sombre Lake. The difference was a reflection of the different taxonomic make-up of the community in the lakes. HNAN grazing rates varied between 0.51 and 0.83 bacteria indiv.' h' in Sombre and Heywood Lakes, respectively. Specific growth rates (r) h' in Sombre Lake were 0.028 for ciliates and 0.013 for HNAN, and in Heywood Lake 0.010 for ciliates and HNAN 0.012. These growth rates result in doubling times ranging between 38 and 69 h for ciliates and around 55 h for HNAN. HNAN grazing on bacteria was curtailed in Heywood Lake in early January as a result of predation by microcrustacean larvae feeding on the plankton. Thus, for a short phase top-down control was apparent in the dynamics of Heywood Lake, a feature uncommon in Antarctic lake ecosystems. The impact of natural eutrophication on these systems is discussed in relation to other unaffected Antarctic lakes.

The abundance of both heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNAN) and bacterioplankton in a large (9km2) ultraoligotrophic Antarctic lake (Crooked Lake) were investigated from December 1992 until November 1993. HNAN abundance peaked in spring, summer and autumn, falling to lowest numbers during the winter. Numbers ranged between 0 and 50.9×104 l−1. Bacterioplankton abundance was highest during the late summer and then fell progressively towards winter and autumn (range 1.19–4.46×106 l−1) In contrast to numbers, mean cell volumes (MCV) of the bacteria reached their highest in spring, and consequently highest bacterial biomass occurred at this time. MCV ranged between 0.052 and 0.224μm3. Bacterial production measurements following the incorporation of [3H] thymidine into DNA and [14C] leucine into protein using a doubling-labelling procedure were undertaken in January, June, August, October and November. Rates varied between 2.8 and 52 ng C l1 h1. On occasions, a significant difference in production rates based on the uptake of leucine and thymidine was observed, suggesting unbalanced growth. Highest rates of production coincided with times of high dissolved organic carbon levels in the water column and lowest production with low levels of DOC. HNAN grazing rates were measured by following the uptake of fluorescently labelled bacteria and averaged 4.8 bacterial cells individual1 day1 at 2 and 4°C. Specific growth rates (h1) ranged around 0.00070–0.00077 in both the field and laboratory, giving doubling times of 37.3 and 41.0 days, respectively. These low rates of grazing and growth indicate that there is no adaptation to low temperatures in these freshwater protists. Based on these data, the gross production efficiency is 24%. HNAN removed between 0.1 and 9.7% of bacterial production per day.

The data set discussed here was obtained from a transect across a depth profile in Sombre Lake (Signy Island, South Orkney Islands). The fauna, composed of benthonic micro-invertebrates, was readily observed grazing on the surface of the cyanobacterial mats that form a thin cover on the surface of the sediments. Algal mat composition varied in response to factors such as light, climate, and ice scour. Micro-invertebrate species diversity was limited, but population numbers were high. The results indicated a degree of substrate selectivity by the invertebrate community as illustrated by the distribution of tardigrades-a major component of the faunal community. Comparison is made between samples, collected at the same time, which were either examined fresh or preserved by freezing then thawed for examination in the U.K.

Severe and depauperate ecosystems provide excellent sites for studies of colonization. Energy and resource limitations act as effective filters to establishment and development of communities. Propagule availability must be considered from both local and long-distance sources with consequent effects on dispersion and viability. Predominant emphasis on asexual reproduction in many groups imposes a further limitation on populations at the genetic level. At present little is known of the frequency and success of individual colonization events in any Antarctic site but we can begin to identify critical factors in the process. This paper examines the key components of colonization, identifies areas in which research is lacking, and proposes some novel approaches for tackling this important issue.

Ciliate diversity was investigated in situ in freshwater ecosystems of the maritime (South Shetland Islands, mainly Livingston Island, 63 degrees S) and continental Antarctic (Victoria Land, 75 degrees S), and the High Arctic (Svalbard, 79 degrees N). In total, 334 species from 117 genera were identified in both polar regions, i.e. 210 spp. (98 genera) in the Arctic, 120 spp. (73 genera) in the maritime and 59 spp. (41 genera) in the continental Antarctic. Forty-four species (13% of all species) were common to both Arctic and Antarctic freshwater bodies and 19 spp. to both Antarctic areas (12% of all species). Many taxa are cosmopolitans but some, e.g. Stentor and Metopus spp., are not, and over 20% of the taxa found in any one of the three areas are new to science. Cluster analysis revealed that species similarity between different biotopes (soil, moss) within a study area was higher than between similar biotopes in different regions. Distinct differences in the species composition of freshwater and terrestrial communities indicate that most limnetic ciliates are not ubiquitously distributed. These observations and the low congruence in species composition between both polar areas, within Antarctica and between high- and temperate-latitude water bodies, respectively, suggest that long-distance dispersal of limnetic ciliates is restricted and that some species have a limited geographical distribution.

Over 70 lakes have now been identified beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Although water from none of the lakes has been sampled directly, analysis of lake ice frozen (accreted) to the underside of the ice sheet above Lake Vostok, the largest of these lakes, has allowed inferences to be made on lake water chemistry and has revealed small quantities of microbes. These findings suggest that Lake Vostok is an extreme, yet viable, environment for life. All subglacial lakes are subject to high pressure (approximately 350 atmospheres), low temperatures (about -3 degrees C) and permanent darkness. Any microbes present must therefore use chemical sources to power biological processes. Importantly, dissolved oxygen is available at least at the lake surface, from equilibration with air hydrates released from melting basal glacier ice. Microbes found in Lake Vostok's accreted ice are relatively modern, but the probability of ancient lake-floor sediments leads to a possibility of a very old biota at the base of subglacial lakes.

The epiphytic diatoms of filamentous matforming algae in Sombre Lake, Signy Island, South Orkneys, Antarctica were examined in a field study from January to March 1987. Results reveal 1) a shallow shelf assemblage, dominated by Fragilaria spp, with high percentages of empty frustules, and low numbers of viable cells and, 2) a mid-depth zone containing the most luxuriant epiphytic growth dominated by Achnanthes minutisima Kutz., Synedra rumpens var. familiaris (Kutz) Hust., and Cymbella minuta Hilse ex Rabenh., and 3) a deep water assemblage with low numbers of actively growing cells, dominated by Stauroneis anceps var. hyalina M. Perag. et Brun. in Herib. The comparison of methods and their impact on ecological interpretation is discussed together with a consideration of the principal factors potentially influencing community structure.

The copepod Pseudoboeckella poppei (Daday) (Calanoida, Centropagidae) was sampled from Sombre and Heywood Lakes on Signy Island, Antarctica (60° S, 45° W) between January 1984 and March 1985. Sombre Lake is clear and oligotrophic with little phytoplankton and a bottom sediment low in organic content. By contrast Heywood Lake is turbid and mesotrophic; a substantial phytoplankton develops in summer and the bottom sediments are comparatively rich in organics. Both lakes freeze over for much of the year, forcing the copepods to adopt a benthic feeding strategy over winter. Adult Pseudoboeckella feed on phytoplankton when this is available, but also on detritus, diatoms and short algal filaments stirred up from the sediment. In Heywood Lake, male copepods show a smooth seasonal trend in lipid content with lipid being synthesised in early summer and utilised in late summer and winter. The summer increase in lipid content is associated with an increase in dry weight. Female lipid contents show evidence of two peaks of egg production. In Sombre Lake both male and female copepods increase in size during summer and show a wider range of lipid contents than in Heywood Lake; it is likely that this is due to the poorer winter feeding conditions which necessitate the synthesis of a much larger store of reserves during the summer. In contrast to marine calanoid copepods, lipid stores are exclusively triacylglycerol with no trace of wax ester.