Cryophilic Tardigrada have disjunct and bipolar distribution and establish long-term stable, low-density demes

Zawierucha, Krzysztof; Kašparová, Eva Štefková; McInnes, Sandra ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3403-9379; Buda, Jakub; Ambrosini, Roberto; Devetter, Miloslav; Ficetola, Gentile Francesco; Franzetti, Andrea; Takeuchi, Nozomu; Horna, Patrik; Jaroměřská, Tereza Novotná; Ono, Masato; Šabacká, Marie; Janko, Karel. 2023 Cryophilic Tardigrada have disjunct and bipolar distribution and establish long-term stable, low-density demes. Polar Biology, 46. 1011-1027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-023-03170-4

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.

Preview

Text (Open Access) Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. s00300-023-03170-4.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

Glaciers are inhabited by various cryophilic organisms ranging from single celled to multicellular, like Tardigrada (water bears). Owing to their scattered distribution, glaciers represent extremely fragmented habitats, and it remains unclear how their inhabitants survive and disperse among such isolated patches. This study investigates the biogeography of the tardigrade genus Cryoconicus, whose distribution, population stability, and interregional connectivity are examined by screening the collections from ~ 60 glaciers worldwide and by a phylogeographic analysis. We found that two Cryoconicus species occur at low densities on two Arctic glaciers in Svalbard, far from their previously reported Antarctic and Central Asian ranges. Screening of worldwide databases and DNA metabarcoding indicated that these species are absent or rare in the intermediate areas, suggesting large disjunctions in their ranges. In particular, the genetic data and multiyear resampling showed that Cryoconicus kaczmareki established a stable population on the Ebba Glacier (Svalbard), which has been isolated from its Asian core range since before the last glacial maximum. Our findings suggest that glacial invertebrates may possess wide yet largely disjunctive ranges. Interpolar- or intercontinental-scale movements of cryophilic meiofauna may occur, but migration connectivity is not sufficient to mitigate the differentiation of the local population. Revealed biogeographic patterns further demonstrate that inhabitants of extreme environments may establish isolated and highly fragmented populations that persist long term, even if at very low densities.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-023-03170-4
ISSN:	0722-4060
Additional Keywords:	Long-range dispersal · Disjunct distribution · Glaciers · Cryoconite holes · Biogeography · Tardigrada
Date made live:	15 Aug 2023 08:39 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535596

Actions (login required)

View Item

Document Downloads

More statistics for this item...