Soil microbial carbon and nitrogen transformations at a glacial foreland on Anvers Island, Antarctic Peninsula |
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Authors: | Sarah L Strauss Ferran Garcia-Pichel Thomas A Day |
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Institution: | 1. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4601, USA
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Abstract: | Microbial communities can play a critical role in soil development and succession at glacial forelands through their contribution to soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. Using a combination of molecular fingerprinting techniques and metabolic rate measurements, we examined the soil microbial community composition and key transformations in the C and N cycles at a glacial foreland on Anvers Island along the Antarctic Peninsula. Soils were sampled along transects representing a chronosequence of <1 to approximately 10?years since deglaciation. The soil microbial community was active adjacent to the receding edge of the glacier, where soil had been ice-free for <1?year. A survey of the microbial community composition identified typical soil bacterial species such as Arthrobacter and Sphingomonas, as well as known Antarctic heterotrophs, cyanobacteria and fungi. The soil C cycle over this zone was dominated by phototrophic microbial activity, while the N cycle was dominated by heterotrophic N2-fixation and not cyanobacterial N2-fixation as found at other recently deglaciated forelands. Other N transformations such as ammonia oxidation and denitrification appeared to be of limited relevance. |
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