Identity of plant, lichen and moss species connects with microbial abundance and soil functioning in maritime Antarctica

Benavent‐González, Alberto; Delgado‐Baquerizo, Manuel; Fernández-Brun, Laura; Singh, Brajesh K.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Sancho, Leopoldo G.

doi:10.1007/s11104-018-3721-7

Cited by 31 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 108 publications

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“…It has been reported that the fungal cell wall rigidity is due to a molecular complex formed by chitin and α-1,3-glucan (Kang et al 2018). Given the low nitrogen availability in this area (Benavent-González et al 2018) it seems that the strategy of H. lugubris would be to allocate this nutrient preferably in chitin, increasing thallus strength, than in algal cells (chlorophyll and rubisco, mainly), reducing productivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Himantormia lugubris, an Antarctic endemic on the edge of the lichen symbiosis

et al. 2020

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Himantormia lugubris is an Antarctic endemic with a distribution restricted to the northwest tip of Antarctic Peninsula, adjacent islands and South Georgia Island. In this region H. lugubris is an important component of the epilithic lichen community. The species has a fruticose thallus with usually simple and flattened branches whose grey surface is often disrupted exposing the black and dominant chondroid axis. Because the photobiont cells are mainly restricted to the patchy grey areas, positive carbon balance seems to be rather difficult for this species. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to elucidate which functional strategy, possibly linked with thallus anatomy, is used by H. lugubris that enables it to be a successful species in the maritime Antarctic. To achieve this goal, we constructed a picture of the lichen's physiological, anatomical and morphological characteristics by using a broad range of technologies, such as chlorophyll fluorescence, CO 2 exchange and electron microscopy. We found that H. lugubris has a very low net photosynthesis, apparently restricted to the grey areas, but high respiratory rates. Therefore, positive net photosynthesis is only possible at low temperatures. Chlorophyll content is also low but is present in both gray and black areas. Our conclusion is that the only possibility for this species to achieve a positive carbon balance is to be active for long periods under optimal conditions, that means, wet, cold and with enough light, a common combination in this region of Antarctica. Given these constrains, we suggest that H. lugubris is likely to be especially sensitive species to predicted climate warming in the maritime Antarctic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Himantormia lugubris, an Antarctic endemic on the edge of the lichen symbiosis

et al. 2020

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“…In addition to soil stabilization, biocrusts affect the cycling of carbon and nutrients, as well as the microbial communities living atop, around, and beneath them. Benavent-González et al (2018) showed that plant and biocrust identity were associated with different levels of soil functioning and microbial abundance in Antarctica. In particular, the activity of multiple enzymes varied by species and the authors observed positive correlations between soil nutrient availability and microbial abundance with biocrusts compared with bare soil.…”

Section: New Insights Into How Biocrusts Impact Ecosystem Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biocrusts: the living skin of the earth

et al. 2018

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“…pedogenetic and landform processes) determine the 14 pedoenvironments along Half Moon island (Figure 2, Supplementary Material -Text S1 and Table SIa of Appendix). Given the marked differences between pedoenvironments, we considered the habitat filtering approach for soil-species relationship analysis (Poelking et al 2015, Benavent-González et al 2018, Schmitz et al 2020. Thus, the possibility of a separating boundary between pedoenvironments provided an opportunity to study the effects of habitat filtering on species assemblages at a local scale in Maritime Antarctica (Poelking et al 2015).…”

Section: Selection Of Pedoenvironmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%