Summary
Bacteria were investigated by fluorescence microscopy, using acridine orange, in samples from five sites with varying influence of penguin colonisation at Cape Bird, Ross Island, Antarctica. The numbers of bacteria varied from a mean of 2.11×1010 g-1 for three heavily populated areas within the rookeries to 0.11×1010 g-1 for a site outside the rookeries. There was considerable variation in the sizes of the bacteria. Cocci and large rods were more common in the samples from the inhabited and recently abandoned colonies. The bacterial biomass declined with decreasing influence from the penguin colonies. This trend was more distinct than that shown by the counts of bacteria. In all the samples less than 8% of the bacteria were metabolically active, as indicated by autoradiographic studies with 3H-glucose.
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Ramsay, A.J. Bacterial biomass in ornithogenic soils of Antarctica. Polar Biol 1, 221–225 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00443192
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00443192