Haplotype and nucleotide characteristics of photobiont and mycobiont gene sequences in the lichen Cetraria aculeata

Lichens, symbiotic associations of fungi (mycobionts) and green algae or cyanobacteria (photobionts), are poikilohydric organisms that are particularly well adapted to withstand adverse environmental conditions. Terrestrial ecosystems of the Antarctic are therefore largely dominated by lichens. The effects of global climate change are especially pronounced in the maritime Antarctic and it may be assumed that the lichen vegetation will profoundly change in the future. The genetic diversity of populations is closely correlated to their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions and to their future evolutionary potential. In this study, we present evidence for low genetic diversity in Antarctic mycobiont and photobiont populations of the widespread lichen Cetraria aculeata. We compared between 110 and 219 DNA sequences from each of three gene loci for each symbiont. A total of 222 individuals from three Antarctic and nine antiboreal, temperate and Arctic populations were investigated. The mycobiont diversity is highest in Arctic populations, while the photobionts are most diverse in temperate regions. Photobiont diversity decreases significantly towards the Antarctic but less markedly towards the Arctic, indicating that ecological factors play a minor role in determining the diversity of Antarctic photobiont populations. Richness estimators calculated for the four geographical regions suggest that the low genetic diversity of Antarctic populations is not a sampling artefact. Cetraria aculeata appears to have diversified in the Arctic and subsequently expanded its range into the Southern Hemisphere. The reduced genetic diversity in the Antarctic is most likely due to founder effects during long-distance colonization.

ERA-CLIM Historical Upper-Air Data 1900-1972

Historical, i.e. pre-1957, upper-air data are a valuable source of information on the state of the atmosphere, in some parts of the World back to the early 20th century. However, to date reanalyses have only partially made use of these data, and only of observations made after 1948. Even for the period between 1948 (the starting year of the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis) and the International Geophysical Year in 1957 (the starting year of the ERA-40 reanalysis), when the global upper-air coverage reached more or less its current status, many observations have not been digitised until now. The Comprehensive Historical Upper-Air Network (CHUAN) already compiled a large collection of pre-1957 upper-air data. In the framework of the European project ERA-CLIM, significant amounts of additional upper-air data have been catalogued (> 1.3 mio station days), imaged (> 200,000 images) and digitised (> 700,000 station days) in order to prepare a new input dataset for upcoming reanalyses. The records cover large parts of the globe, focussing on so far less well covered regions such as the Tropics, the polar regions and the Oceans, and on very early upper-air data from Europe and the US. The total number of digitised/inventoried records is 61/101 for moving upper-air data, i.e. data from ships etc., and 735/1,783 for fixed upper-air stations. Here, we give a detailed description of the resulting dataset including the metadata and the quality checking procedures applied. The data will be included in the next version of CHUAN.

Zooplankton data of M83/1

Oxygen-deficient waters in the ocean, generally referred to as oxygen minimum zones (OMZ), are expected to expand as a consequence of global climate change. Poor oxygenation is promoting microbial loss of inorganic nitrogen (N) and increasing release of sediment-bound phosphate (P) into the water column. These intermediate water masses, nutrient-loaded but with an N deficit relative to the canonical N:P Redfield ratio of 16:1, are transported via coastal upwelling into the euphotic zone. To test the impact of nutrient supply and nutrient stoichiometry on production, partitioning and elemental composition of dissolved (DOC, DON, DOP) and particulate (POC, PON, POP) organic matter, three nutrient enrichment experiments were conducted with natural microbial communities in shipboard mesocosms, during research cruises in the tropical waters of the southeast Pacific and the northeast Atlantic. Maximum accumulation of POC and PON was observed under high N supply conditions, indicating that primary production was controlled by N availability. The stoichiometry of microbial biomass was unaffected by nutrient N:P supply during exponential growth under nutrient saturation, while it was highly variable under conditions of nutrient limitation and closely correlated to the N:P supply ratio, although PON:POP of accumulated biomass generally exceeded the supply ratio. Microbial N:P composition was constrained by a general lower limit of 5:1. Channelling of assimilated P into DOP appears to be the mechanism responsible for the consistent offset of cellular stoichiometry relative to inorganic nutrient supply and nutrient drawdown, as DOP build-up was observed to intensify under decreasing N:P supply. Low nutrient N:P conditions in coastal upwelling areas overlying O2-deficient waters seem to represent a net source for DOP, which may stimulate growth of diazotrophic phytoplankton. These results demonstrate that microbial nutrient assimilation and partitioning of organic matter between the particulate and the dissolved phase are controlled by the N:P ratio of upwelled nutrients, implying substantial consequences for nutrient cycling and organic matter pools in the course of decreasing nutrient N:P stoichiometry.

Biogeochemistry of mesocosm experiments in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic Ocean

Oxygen-deficient waters in the ocean, generally referred to as oxygen minimum zones (OMZ), are expected to expand as a consequence of global climate change. Poor oxygenation is promoting microbial loss of inorganic nitrogen (N) and increasing release of sediment-bound phosphate (P) into the water column. These intermediate water masses, nutrient-loaded but with an N deficit relative to the canonical N:P Redfield ratio of 16:1, are transported via coastal upwelling into the euphotic zone. To test the impact of nutrient supply and nutrient stoichiometry on production, partitioning and elemental composition of dissolved (DOC, DON, DOP) and particulate (POC, PON, POP) organic matter, three nutrient enrichment experiments were conducted with natural microbial communities in shipboard mesocosms, during research cruises in the tropical waters of the southeast Pacific and the northeast Atlantic. Maximum accumulation of POC and PON was observed under high N supply conditions, indicating that primary production was controlled by N availability. The stoichiometry of microbial biomass was unaffected by nutrient N:P supply during exponential growth under nutrient saturation, while it was highly variable under conditions of nutrient limitation and closely correlated to the N:P supply ratio, although PON:POP of accumulated biomass generally exceeded the supply ratio. Microbial N:P composition was constrained by a general lower limit of 5:1. Channelling of assimilated P into DOP appears to be the mechanism responsible for the consistent offset of cellular stoichiometry relative to inorganic nutrient supply and nutrient drawdown, as DOP build-up was observed to intensify under decreasing N:P supply. Low nutrient N:P conditions in coastal upwelling areas overlying O2-deficient waters seem to represent a net source for DOP, which may stimulate growth of diazotrophic phytoplankton. These results demonstrate that microbial nutrient assimilation and partitioning of organic matter between the particulate and the dissolved phase are controlled by the N:P ratio of upwelled nutrients, implying substantial consequences for nutrient cycling and organic matter pools in the course of decreasing nutrient N:P stoichiometry.