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Polyextremophiles pp 381–400Cite as

Microbial Communities Thriving in Various Ice Ecosystems

Part of the Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology book series (COLE,volume 27)

Abstract

The different components of the Earth’s cryosphere are now recognized as active ecosystems despite the harsh conditions such as low temperature, danger of desiccation, high doses of UV radiation, low-nutrient concentrations, or also long periods of darkness as occurring in polar regions. However, due to multiple adaptations to life in the cold, these living communities show metabolic rates which can contribute substantially to the global carbon content. So far it is reported from freshwater systems where mainly microbes can thrive in a layered structure composed of ice and slush and can be associated with clusters of sediments, respectively. Sea ice is probably the most prominent ecosystems where brine channels are the living space of microbial and metazoan communities of high biodiversity. Glacial systems show well-developed consortia in so-called cryoconite holes which can be understood as mini-lakes. Considering the vast amounts of ice and snow of the cryosphere which are prone to be lost by melting, the carbon being produced in those systems is a substantial contribution to adjacent habitats.

Keywords

  • Microbial Community
  • Airborne Bacterium
  • Microbial Life
  • Cryoconite Hole
  • Temperate Glacier

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Birgit Sattler, Barbara Post & Andreas Fritz

Authors
  1. Birgit Sattler
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  2. Barbara Post
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  3. Andreas Fritz
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Correspondence to Birgit Sattler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

  2. Dept. of Plant and Env. Sciences, Institute of Life Sciences The Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Aharon Oren

  3. Dept. Mikrobiology, Universität Salzburg FB Molekulare Biologie, Salzburg, Austria

    Helga Stan-Lotter

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Sattler, B., Post, B., Fritz, A. (2013). Microbial Communities Thriving in Various Ice Ecosystems. In: Seckbach, J., Oren, A., Stan-Lotter, H. (eds) Polyextremophiles. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6488-0_16

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