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Lithifying and Non-Lithifying Microbial Ecosystems in the Wetlands and Salt Flats of the Central Andes

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Abstract

The wetlands and salt flats of the Central Andes region are unique extreme environments as they are located in high-altitude saline deserts, largely influenced by volcanic activity. Environmental factors, such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation, arsenic content, high salinity, low dissolved oxygen content, extreme daily temperature fluctuation, and oligotrophic conditions, resemble the early Earth and potentially extraterrestrial conditions. The discovery of modern microbialites and microbial mats in the Central Andes during the past decade has increased the interest in this area as an early Earth analog. In this work, we review the current state of knowledge of Central Andes region environments found within lakes, small ponds or puquios, and salt flats of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, many of them harboring a diverse range of microbial communities that we have termed Andean Microbial Ecosystems (AMEs). We have integrated the data recovered from all the known AMEs and compared their biogeochemistry and microbial diversity to achieve a better understanding of them and, consequently, facilitate their protection.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank Luis Ahumada and Marcos Contreras for their assistance in the field trips and the native communities of Tolar Grande, Antofalla, El Peñón, Antofagasta de la Sierra, and San Pedro de Atacama for their support. We also want to thank the Secretaries of the Environment from Catamarca and Salta provinces, as well as the Ministerial Regional Secretary (SEREMI) of the Environment (Antofagasta Region) for providing us the exploration permits. DG additionally thanks to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency for supporting his work.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Council for Science and Technology (CONICET, Argentina), the Argentinian National Fund for Science and Technology (FONCyT; PICT 2013/0730 and PICT V 2015/3825 projects), and the Center of Applied Ecology (CEA-Chile).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Investigaciones Microbiológicas de Lagunas Andinas (LIMLA), Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos (PROIMI)-CCT-CONICET, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina

    Federico A. Vignale, Agustina I. Lencina, Tatiana M. Stepanenko, Mariana N. Soria, Luis A. Saona, Daniel Kurth, Patricio G. Villafañe, Virginia H. Albarracín & María E. Farías

  2. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (IQUIBICEN)-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Federico A. Vignale

  3. Centro de Biotecnología (CBT), Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSS), Cochabamba, Bolivia

    Daniel Guzmán

  4. Space Life Science Lab, Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Merritt Island, FL, USA

    Jamie S. Foster

  5. Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP)-CONICET, La Plata, Argentina

    Daniel G. Poiré

  6. Centro Integral de Microscopía Electrónica (CIME)-CCT-CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (UNT), Tucumán, Argentina

    Virginia H. Albarracín

  7. Centro de Ecología Aplicada (CEA), Santiago, Chile

    Manuel Contreras

Authors
  1. Federico A. Vignale
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  2. Agustina I. Lencina
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  3. Tatiana M. Stepanenko
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  4. Mariana N. Soria
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  8. Jamie S. Foster
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  9. Daniel G. Poiré
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  10. Patricio G. Villafañe
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  11. Virginia H. Albarracín
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  12. Manuel Contreras
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  13. María E. Farías
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Contributions

FAV and MEF designed and performed the review. MEF conceived the original HAAL project. FAV, AIL, TMS, MNS, LAS, DK, DG, PGV, VHA, and MEF wrote the review. FAV, AIL, TMS, JSF, DGP, and MEF revised the review. MEF, DG, and MC obtained funding for the original project idea. All authors read and approved this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to María E. Farías.

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Vignale, F.A., Lencina, A.I., Stepanenko, T.M. et al. Lithifying and Non-Lithifying Microbial Ecosystems in the Wetlands and Salt Flats of the Central Andes. Microb Ecol 83, 1–17 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01725-8

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