Abstract
Biological soil crusts (BSC) are the dominant functional vegetation unit in some of the harshest habitats in the world. We assessed BSC response to stress through changes in biotic composition, CO2 gas exchange and carbon allocation in three lichen-dominated BSC from habitats with different stress levels, two more extreme sites in Antarctica and one moderate site in Germany. Maximal net photosynthesis (NP) was identical, whereas the water content to achieve maximal NP was substantially lower in the Antarctic sites, this apparently being achieved by changes in biomass allocation. Optimal NP temperatures reflected local climate. The Antarctic BSC allocated fixed carbon (tracked using 14CO2) mostly to the alcohol soluble pool (low-molecular weight sugars, sugar alcohols), which has an important role in desiccation and freezing resistance and antioxidant protection. In contrast, BSC at the moderate site showed greater carbon allocation into the polysaccharide pool, indicating a tendency towards growth. The results indicate that the BSC of the more stressed Antarctic sites emphasise survival rather than growth. Changes in BSC are adaptive and at multiple levels and we identify benefits and risks attached to changing life traits, as well as describing the ecophysiological mechanisms that underlie them.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Antarctica New Zealand (AntNZ) for logistical support over several years as part of the Latitudinal Gradient Project coordinated by Shulamit Gordon. Logistics support was also provided by the Australian Antarctic Program, the Spanish National Antarctic Program and the US Coastguard Reserve. They are all gratefully thanked. The New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST), the University of Waikato Vice Chancellor’s Fund and the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato provided financial support. The research was supported by the FRST grant, ‘Understanding, valuing and protecting Antarctica’s unique terrestrial ecosystems: predicting biocomplexity in Dry Valley ecosystems’ and TGAG by the Spanish Education Ministry grants POL2006-08405 and CTM2009-12838-C04-01. BB and CC acknowledge the DFG Schwerpunktprogramm 1158 (BU 666/11-1). Part of the research were also funded by the ERA-Net BiodivERsA program, with the national funders German Research Foundation (DFG), Austrian Science Fund (FWF), The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), and the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), part of the 2010-2011 BiodivERsA joint call. We thank Professor Neuhaus (TU Kl) for logistic support in the isotope laboratory.
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Colesie, C., Allan Green, T., Haferkamp, I. et al. Habitat stress initiates changes in composition, CO2 gas exchange and C-allocation as life traits in biological soil crusts. ISME J 8, 2104–2115 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2014.47
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2014.47
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