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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jose Munoz Munoz, Professor Bethan DaviesORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Svalbard is host to a range of glacier types with different thermal regimes, behaviors and complex hydrological networks and landforms. Here, we hypothesize that the (H1) surge-type glaciers will host different microbial community structures, and that (H2) different landform types will also host different microbial community structures. We further hypothesize that (H3) these differences in microbial communities will result in different concentrations and compositions of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in response to potentially different stressors associated with surging behavior (H4) or the formation of different landforms. To test these hypotheses, supra- and subglacial sediments from different glacier types and landforms in southwest and west Spitsbergen were collected (26 locations, across 10 glaciers). 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and epifluorescence microscopy was used to determine the microbial community composition, diversity and biomass. At the sequence level all samples were predominantly different across all glaciers and landforms with only 72/1,268 sequences detected in two or more samples. Diversity indices showed samples generally have similar levels of diversity despite these differences in community structure. The EPS concentrations were also similar (0.34 ± 0.71 mg g−1) at all locations excluding a single outlier, suggesting consistent production of EPS. This has implications for understanding the microbial ecosystem response to changing glacial dynamics as the extent and thermal regimes of glaciers shift due to climate change.
Author(s): McCerery R, Woodward J, Fernandez-Julia P, Calvo-Ryan R, Munoz-Munoz J, Davies BJ, Pearce DA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Year: 2025
Volume: 130
Issue: 10
Print publication date: 07/10/2025
Online publication date: 07/10/2025
Acceptance date: 24/09/2025
Date deposited: 08/10/2025
ISSN (print): 2169-8953
ISSN (electronic): 2169-8961
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JG009154
DOI: 10.1029/2025JG009154
Data Access Statement: The amplified sequence data, cell counts, protein and polysaccharide concentrations data and supplementary information used for microbial community composition analysis and EPS analysis in this study are attached as supplementary files. The raw DNA sequences from this project are deposited on NCBI's SRA under the Bio-Project PRJNA1298205, accession numbers SAMN50260318 to SAMN50260337.
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