Carbon dioxide fluxes associated with prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities in ice-free areas on King George Island, Maritime Antarctica

Rosa, Luiz H.; Gonçalves, Vívian N.; Barreto, Débora Luiza Costa; Francelino, Marcio Rocha; Baldi, Clara Glória Oliveira; Mello, Danilo Cesar; Santos, Kárita C.R.; Lopes, Fabyano A. C.; Carvalho-Silva, Micheline; Convey, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8497-9903; Câmara, Paulo E.A.S.. 2025 Carbon dioxide fluxes associated with prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities in ice-free areas on King George Island, Maritime Antarctica. DNA, 5 (15). 10.3390/dna5010015

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Abstract/Summary

Background and Methods: We assessed the prokaryotic and eukaryotic diversity present in non-vegetated and vegetated soils on King George Island, Maritime Antarctic, in combination with measurements of carbon dioxide fluxes. Results: For prokaryotes, 381 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were assigned, dominated by the phyla Actinobacteriota, Acidobacteriota, Pseudomonadota, Chloroflexota, and Verrucomicrobiota. A total of 432 eukaryotic ASVs were assigned, including representatives from seven kingdoms and 21 phyla. Fungi dominated the eukaryotic communities, followed by Viridiplantae. Non-vegetated soils had higher diversity indices compared with vegetated soils. The dominant prokaryotic ASV in non-vegetated soils was Pyrinomonadaceae sp., while Pseudarthrobacter sp. dominated vegetated soils. Mortierella antarctica (Fungi) 1and Meyerella sp. (Viridiplantae) were dominant eukaryotic taxa in the non-vegetated soils, while Lachnum sp. (Fungi) and Polytrichaceae sp. (Viridiplantae) were dominant in the vegetated soils. Measured CO2 fluxes indicated that the net ecosystem exchange values measured in vegetated soils were lower than ecosystem respiration in non-vegetated soils. However, the total flux values indicated that the region displayed positive ecosystem respiration values, suggesting that the soils may represent a source of CO2 in the atmosphere. Conclusions: Our study revealed the presence of rich and complex communities of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms in both soil types. Although non-vegetated soils demonstrated the highest levels of diversity, they had lower CO2 fluxes than vegetated soils, likely reflecting the significant biomass of photosynthetically active plants (mainly dense moss carpets) and their resident organisms. The greater diversity detected in exposed soils may influence future changes in CO2 flux in the studied region, for which comparisons of non-vegetated and vegetated soils with different microbial diversities are needed. This reinforces the necessity for studies to monitor the impact of resident biota on CO2 flux in different areas of Maritime Antarctica, a region strongly impacted by climatic changes.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.3390/dna5010015
Additional Keywords:	Antarctica; CO2; extremophiles; environmental DNA; microbe; taxonomy
Date made live:	12 Mar 2025 14:39 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538753

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