Aberystwyth University Variations in phototroph communities on the ablating bare-ice surface of glaciers on Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard Takeuchi, Nozomu; Tanaka, Sota; Konno, Yudai; Irvine-Fynn, Tristram; Rassner, Sara M. E.; Edwards, Arwyn Published in: Frontiers in Earth Science DOI: 10.3389/feart.2019.00004 Publication date: 2019 Citation for published version (APA): Takeuchi, N., Tanaka, S., Konno, Y., Irvine-Fynn, T., Rassner, S. M. E., & Edwards, A. (2019). Variations in phototroph communities on the ablating bare-ice surface of glaciers on Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard. 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Oct. 2021 feart-07-00004 January 31, 2019 Time: 13:29 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 01 February 2019 doi: 10.3389/feart.2019.00004 Variations in Phototroph Communities on the Ablating Bare-Ice Surface of Glaciers on Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard Nozomu Takeuchi1*, Sota Tanaka1, Yudai Konno1, Tristram D. L. Irvine-Fynn2, Sara M. E. Rassner2,3 and Arwyn Edwards3 1 Department of Earth Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan, 2 Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, United Kingdom, 3 Institute of Biological, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, United Kingdom During the summer ablation season, Arctic glacier surfaces host a wealth of microbial life. Here, the phototroph communities on the ablating bare-ice surface of three valley glaciers on Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard were investigated. The communities mainly comprised seven taxa of green algae and cyanobacteria, which have been commonly reported on Arctic glaciers. Although the geographical and glaciological settings of the three studied glaciers are similar, there were differences in total phototroph biomass. The Edited by: community structure was also distinctive among the glaciers: high dominance of a single Martyn Tranter, taxon of green algae (Ancylonema nordenskiöldii) for Midtre Lovénbreen, abundant University of Bristol, United Kingdom cyanobacteria for Austre Brøggerbreen, and diverse green algae for Pedersenbreen. Reviewed by: The major soluble ions in the surface ice showed that there was no significant Marek Stibal, Charles University, Czechia difference in meltwater nutrient conditions between the glaciers, but there were lower Christopher Williamson, concentrations of mineral-derived ions on Midtre Lovénbreen. Consequently, the glacier- University of Bristol, United Kingdom specific mineral loading and surface hydrology are inferred to explain the contrast in bare *Correspondence: Nozomu Takeuchi ice algal communities between the glaciers. We hypothesize that local, glacier-specific [email protected] conditions affect algal communities and the associated influences on carbon cycling and ice-surface albedo. Specialty section: This article was submitted to Keywords: ice algae, Svalbard, glaciers, cyanobacteria, cryoconite Geochemistry, a section of the journal Frontiers in Earth Science INTRODUCTION Received: 31 May 2018 Accepted: 11 January 2019 Within the Earth system, glaciers and ice sheets are an important microbe-dominated ecosystem Published: 01 February 2019 (Hodson et al., 2008), harboring an estimated 1029 microbes (Irvine-Fynn and Edwards, 2014). Citation: With microorganisms being able to thrive in any wet environment within a glacier, the seasonally Takeuchi N, Tanaka S, Konno Y, melting surface is a prominent habitat (Stibal et al., 2012). During winter months, glaciers are Irvine-Fynn TDL, Rassner SME and typically snow-covered, but, characteristically, summer season snowmelt exposes the bare-ice in Edwards A (2019) Variations the ablation area, leaving snow cover only in the higher elevation accumulation area. Given the in Phototroph Communities on the Ablating Bare-Ice Surface difference of physical and chemical properties of the snow and bare-ice, distinctive biological of Glaciers on Brøggerhalvøya, communities appear in these two environments (e.g., Yoshimura et al., 1997; Lutz et al., 2017). Yet, Svalbard. Front. Earth Sci. 7:4. to date, data describing these habitat and species diversities remain limited, necessitating continued doi: 10.3389/feart.2019.00004 progress in the understanding of extant conditions (Hotaling et al., 2017). Frontiers in Earth Science| www.frontiersin.org 1 February 2019| Volume 7| Article 4 feart-07-00004 January 31, 2019 Time: 13:29 # 2 Takeuchi et al. Phototrophs on Svalbard Glacier Ice The supraglacial bare-ice area is usually inhabited by more Svalbard is one of the more glaciated areas in the Arctic abundant and diverse ranges of organisms compared with the with ice covering 57% of the land area (Hagen et al., 1993; accumulation area since the duration of surface melting is Nuth et al., 2013) and diverse microbe communities have been longer and liquid water is readily available at the ice surface reported on the archipelago’s glaciers (e.g., Säwström et al., 2002; (Yoshimura et al., 1997; Stibal et al., 2012). Ice algae and Stibal et al., 2006; Edwards et al., 2011; Vonnahme et al., 2016). cyanobacteria are the prominent photosynthetic microbes in the However, to date, most of the biological studies have focused on ablation area (Anesio et al., 2009; Cook et al., 2012; Yallop et al., microbes in cryoconite holes that characterize these ice masses 2012; Williamson et al., 2018). The most common species of (e.g., Säwström et al., 2002; Stibal et al., 2006; Edwards et al., phototrophs on Arctic glaciers are Ancylonema nordenskiöldii 2011; Vonnahme et al., 2016). Therefore, this study describes and Mesotaenium bergrenii, which belong to desmids of green the phototroph community on the bare-ice surface of three algae and are characterized by dark brownish pigments in their neighboring glaciers on Brøggerhalvøya in Svalbard. The spatial cells (Remias et al., 2012a,b; Takeuchi et al., 2015). Cyanobacteria variations in the algal community within and among glaciers are are typically filamentous and often form spherical microbe- discussed with respect to factors associated with hydrology and mineral aggregates, referred to as cryoconite granules (Langford nutrients on the ice surface. et al., 2010; Cook et al., 2016a). Heterotrophs sustained by such photosynthetic microbes, are also present on the ice surface including rotifers, tardigrades, yeast, fungi and heterotrophic STUDY SITE AND METHODS bacteria (Edwards et al., 2011, 2013; Cameron et al., 2012; Singh and Singh, 2012; Gokul et al., 2016; Zawierucha et al., 2015; The investigation was conducted in August 2013 on three Vonnahme et al., 2016). north-facing Arctic valley glaciers south of Kongsfjord, Svalbard: The microbial activity across bare-ice is accentuated by the Austre Brøggerbreen, Midtre Lovénbreen, and Pedersenbreen, variety of habitats arising from the heterogeneous topography which were all accessed from Ny Alesund (78◦ 55N, 11◦ 56E, compared with that found in the accumulation area. Such Figures 1a–d). They are similar sized valley glaciers (∼5 km2), topographic features include, for example, cryoconite holes, extending from elevations of ∼50–700 m a.s.l. (Hagen et al., distributed dust and cryoconite, meltwater streams, and exposed 1993). All glaciers have shown recession from their Little Ice bare-ice surfaces (Hodson et al., 2008). However, the bare- Age (LIA) maximum extents around a century ago (Nuth ice surface commonly accounts for more than 90% of the et al., 2013), and have velocities of less than 10 m a−1 (Hagen ice area (Hodson et al., 2007), and is inhabited by abundant et al., 1993; Rippin et al., 2005; Ai et al., 2014). Geophysical phototrophs. Phototrophs on the bare-ice surface are thought investigations have shown Austre Brøggerbreen to be cold- to maintain higher rates of carbon fixation than the microbiota based with ice thicknesses < 100 m, while Midtre Lovénbreen associated with cryoconite holes (Cook et al., 2012; Williamson and Pedersenbreen are polythermal, with temperate ice in et al., 2018). Furthermore, they play a role in accelerating their thickest regions where ice depths reach up to around ice ablation by the reduction of surface albedo (Yallop et al., 170 m (see Björnsson et al., 1996; Ai et al., 2014). All glaciers 2012; Stibal et al., 2017; Ryan et al., 2018). Dark pigments have accumulation areas in Proterozoic basement rock types, contained in algal cells effectively absorb light, thereby reducing principally mica schists, gneiss and migmatite (Hjelle, 1993). surface albedo (Remias et al., 2012b; Williamson et al., 2018). Their ablation