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Soil microalgal communities on an antarctic active volcano (Deception Island, South Shetlands)

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Abstract

Contemporary eruptive episodes and present volcanic activity at Deception Island have created a mosaic of different environmental conditions. In this study, the microalgal communities inhabiting 18 sites differing in geology, degree of disturbance and physico-chemical features (texture, water, organic matter and nutrient contents) were characterized in terms of composition, species richness and biomass. One hundred and forty taxa were recorded, with richest communities associated with stable sites and some of the poorest ones in locations affected by recent eruptions. In accordance, a canonical correspondence analysis ordinated species and sites along the first axis according to the percentage of coarse particles, and degree of disturbance (eigenvalues 0.79 and 0.65, P = 0.04). Results of a cluster analysis grouped firstly those algal taxa with high fidelity to one set of environmental conditions, while “ubiquitous” ones had the lowest similarity values. These taxa, mainly filamentous Cyanobacteria and diatoms, are the only colonizers of harsher or recently formed environments.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been jointly financed by the University of Buenos Aires—Instituto Antártico Argentino (PICTA No. 006/2004) and CONICET (PEI No. 6481). Drs Alicia Vinocur and Irina Izaguirre kindly helped in the field. Authors are also grateful to Dr. Alberto Caselli for sharing a wealth of literature and maps, and to Lic. Rubén Lombardo for valuable assistance in performing multivariate analysis. Part of the diatom research was conducted at the University of Antwerp.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Depto. de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Fac. de Cs. Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Paulina Fermani & Gabriela Mataloni

  2. CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Gabriela Mataloni

  3. Department of Bryophytes and Thallophytes, National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Domein van Bouchout, 1860, Meise, Belgium

    Bart Van de Vijver

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  1. Paulina Fermani
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  2. Gabriela Mataloni
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Correspondence to Gabriela Mataloni.

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Fermani, P., Mataloni, G. & Van de Vijver, B. Soil microalgal communities on an antarctic active volcano (Deception Island, South Shetlands). Polar Biol 30, 1381–1393 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0299-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0299-6

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