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Abstract Primary production is fundamental to ecosystems, and in many extreme environments production is facilitated by microbial mats. Microbial mats are complex assemblages of photo- and heterotrophic microorganisms colonizing sediment and soil surfaces. These communities are the dominant producers of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, where they occupy lentic and lotic environments as well as intermittently wet soils. While the influence of microbial mats on stream nutrient dynamics and lake organic matter cycling is well documented, the influence of microbial mats on underlying soil is less well understood, particularly the effects of microbial mat nitrogen and carbon fixation. Taylor Valley soils occur across variable levels of inorganic phosphorus availability, with the Ross Sea drift containing four times that of the Taylor drifts, providing opportunities to examine how soil geochemistry influences microbial mats and the ecological functions they regulate. We found that inorganic phosphorus availability is positively correlated with microbial mat biomass, pigment concentration and nitrogen fixation potential. Additionally, our results demonstrate that dense microbial mats influence the ecological functioning of underlying soils by enriching organic carbon and total nitrogen stocks (two times higher). This work contributes to ongoing questions regarding the sources of energy fuelling soil food webs and the regional carbon balance in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
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Divide and conquer: Spatial and temporal resource partitioning structures benthic cyanobacterial mats
Abstract Benthic cyanobacterial mats are increasing in abundance worldwide with the potential to degrade ecosystem structure and function. Understanding mat community dynamics is thus critical for predicting mat growth and proliferation and for mitigating any associated negative effects. Carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling are the predominant forms of nutrient cycling discussed within the literature, while metabolic cooperation and viral interactions are understudied. Although many forms of nutrient cycling in mats have been assessed, the links between niche dynamics, microbial interactions, and nutrient cycling are not well described. Here, we present an updated review on how nutrient cycling and microbial community interactions in mats are structured by resource partitioning via spatial and temporal heterogeneity and succession. We assess community interactions and nutrient cycling at both intramat and metacommunity scales. Additionally, we present ideas and recommendations for research in this area, highlighting top‐down control, boundary layers, and metabolic cooperation as important future directions.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2239425
- PAR ID:
- 10495163
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Phycology
- Volume:
- 60
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0022-3646
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 254-272
- Size(s):
- p. 254-272
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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