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Carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycling potentials of supraglacial cryoconite communities

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Abstract

Microorganisms have a crucial role to play in the cycling of nutrients within glacial environments. These systems are often nutrient-limited, and so biogeochemical reactions, which ensure the availability of nutrients for microbial communities, are critical for the maintenance of these systems. This study uses molecular biology to characterise the supraglacial cryoconite microbial communities that are capable of cycling carbon and nitrogen in a range of glacial environments. Organisms with the potential to photosynthesise were identified, including Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Stramenopiles and Haptophyceae. Organisms with the potential to perform nitrification and denitrification processes were also identified and featured Betaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Thaumarchaeota and Cyanobacteria. While it is unlikely that the chemical and physical parameters of the supraglacial environment will facilitate optimal rates of all of the nitrogen-related biogeochemical processes, the transport of these cryoconite communities to downstream locations, where more favourable conditions may prevail, will perhaps provide a valuable inoculation of microorganisms with the genetic potential to catalyse these reactions elsewhere.

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Acknowledgments

KC was funded by a Ph.D. studentship awarded by the University of Sheffield. This research was supported by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (RF/4/RFG/2007/0398) awarded to AJH and by the NERC for providing access to the NERC Arctic Research Station. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Nick Cox, Steve Marshall and Rob Smith at the NERC Arctic Station, Ny Ålesund, Svalbard and Monica Kristensen and Jacob Yde for support during Svalbard and Greenland fieldwork. KC was supported during manuscript preparation by NSF-OPP grant 0739783 (awarded to Karen Junge) and NSF-OPP grant 1023462 (awarded to Karen Junge and Ronald Sletten).

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  1. Karen A. Cameron

    Present address: Applied Physics Laboratory, Polar Science Center, University of Washington, Box 355640, Seattle, WA, 98105-6698, USA

  2. A. Mark Osborn

    Present address: Department of Biological Science, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    Karen A. Cameron & A. Mark Osborn

  2. Department of Geography, The University of Sheffield, Winter Street, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    Andrew J. Hodson

  3. Department of Arctic Geology, The University Centre in Svalbard, PO Box 156, Longyearbyen, Norway

    Andrew J. Hodson

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  1. Karen A. Cameron
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  2. Andrew J. Hodson
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  3. A. Mark Osborn
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Correspondence to Karen A. Cameron.

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Cameron, K.A., Hodson, A.J. & Osborn, A.M. Carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycling potentials of supraglacial cryoconite communities. Polar Biol 35, 1375–1393 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1178-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1178-3

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