Floral and faunal characteristics and content of photosynthetic pigment in soils of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

Fuente: PANGAEA
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Colacevich, Andrea, Caruso, Tancredi, Borghini, Francesca, Bargagli, Roberto
Formato: Dataset Open Access
Lenguaje:en
Publicado: PANGAEA 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1867167668553908224
author Colacevich, Andrea
Caruso, Tancredi
Borghini, Francesca
Bargagli, Roberto
author_facet Colacevich, Andrea
Caruso, Tancredi
Borghini, Francesca
Bargagli, Roberto
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Although soil algae are among the main primary producers in most terrestrial ecosystems of continental Antarctica, there are very few quantitative studies on their relative proportion in the main algal groups and on how their distribution is affected by biotic and abiotic factors. Such knowledge is essential for understanding the functioning of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. We therefore analyzed biological soil crusts from northern Victoria Land to determine their pH, electrical conductivity (EC), water content (W), total and organic C (TC and TOC) and total N (TN) contents, and the presence and abundance of photosynthetic pigments. In particular, the latter were tested as proxies for biomass and coarse-resolution community structure. Soil samples were collected from five sites with known soil algal communities and the distribution of pigments was shown to reflect differences in the relative proportions of Chlorophyta, Cyanophyta and Bacillariophyta in these sites. Multivariate and univariate models strongly indicated that almost all soil variables (EC, W, TOC and TN) were important environmental correlates of pigment distribution. However, a significant amount of variation is independent of these soil variables and may be ascribed to local variability such as changes in microclimate at varying spatial and temporal scales. There are at least five possible sources of local variation: pigment preservation, temporal variations in water availability, temporal and spatial interactions among environmental and biological components, the local-scale patchiness of organism distribution, and biotic interactions.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_786524
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2009
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Floral and faunal characteristics and content of photosynthetic pigment in soils of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica
Colacevich, Andrea
Caruso, Tancredi
Borghini, Francesca
Bargagli, Roberto
International Polar Year (2007-2008); ipy; IPY
Although soil algae are among the main primary producers in most terrestrial ecosystems of continental Antarctica, there are very few quantitative studies on their relative proportion in the main algal groups and on how their distribution is affected by biotic and abiotic factors. Such knowledge is essential for understanding the functioning of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. We therefore analyzed biological soil crusts from northern Victoria Land to determine their pH, electrical conductivity (EC), water content (W), total and organic C (TC and TOC) and total N (TN) contents, and the presence and abundance of photosynthetic pigments. In particular, the latter were tested as proxies for biomass and coarse-resolution community structure. Soil samples were collected from five sites with known soil algal communities and the distribution of pigments was shown to reflect differences in the relative proportions of Chlorophyta, Cyanophyta and Bacillariophyta in these sites. Multivariate and univariate models strongly indicated that almost all soil variables (EC, W, TOC and TN) were important environmental correlates of pigment distribution. However, a significant amount of variation is independent of these soil variables and may be ascribed to local variability such as changes in microclimate at varying spatial and temporal scales. There are at least five possible sources of local variation: pigment preservation, temporal variations in water availability, temporal and spatial interactions among environmental and biological components, the local-scale patchiness of organism distribution, and biotic interactions.
title Floral and faunal characteristics and content of photosynthetic pigment in soils of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica
topic International Polar Year (2007-2008); ipy; IPY
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.786524