Antarctic Legacy Archive
Statistics Report for : Uncovering The Unexplored: The Microbial Ecology Of Sub-AntarcticIsland Soils
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Statistical Report for Uncovering The Unexplored: The Microbial Ecology Of Sub-AntarcticIsland Soils
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| Title | Creator | Publisher | Date | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uncovering The Unexplored: The Microbial Ecology Of Sub-AntarcticIsland Soils | The sub-Antarctic islands (SAIs) are broadly categorised as those islands positionedaround the Antarctic Polar Front and with a biogeographic link to continental Antarctica.Due to their remote locations and wide spatial separations, most have been poorlycharacterized in terms of macro- and microecology. The remoteness of these islands,and the likelihood that dispersal processes may be limited by the extreme inter-islandand island-continent distances, suggests that strong local homogenizing forces may leadto unique microbial community compositions. In 2016-2017, the AntarcticCircumnavigation Expedition (ACE) provided a near-unique opportunity to sourcebiological materials, including soil samples, from a number of these highly inaccessibleand rarely visited SAIs. In turn, this provided an unprecedented opportunity toinvestigate, and compare the soil microbial ecology of these locations. In the presentstudy, we describe the unique microbial biodiversity of SAI soils, with a specifi c focus onthe role of local habitat selection in shaping community structure and functionalpotential. Taxonomic comparison of the soil communities indicated that the variousSAIs harboured spatially segregated microbiomes with a limited degree of overlap.However, we identifi ed a shared microbial fi ngerprint of lichen-associated taxa,suggesting that terrestrial lichens may be key drivers of sub-Antarctic island soilmicrobial ecology. In addition, investigation of the functional profi les of these soilmicrobial communities suggested a location-specifi c specialization shaped primarily bythe temperature range of the SAI habitats. The results presented in this study representthe most extensive characterization of the microbial ecology of the SAI soils to date. | 5 |