Microbiome diversity and function in the Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica Follow the updates on the expeditions of the MICROBIAN project to continental Antarctica!
24-01-2018
Sampling and experiments have started!
The past few days have been very busy for the MICROBIAN team. After the field training, Valentina, Sam and Elie immediately started with the sampling program. First, the snow fences were pre-assembled and all sampling protocols were tested. On Thursday we went to Teltet nunatak (Fig.1) to sample the Open-Top-Chambers (OTCs) which were installed there in 2010 by Dr. Zorigto Namsaraev within the framework of the BelSPO project BELDIVA. These OTCs will allow us to study the effect of increased temperatures on the diversity and composition of the soil communities.
Fig.1: Map of the Sør Rondane Mountains showing the sampling sites visited during the past few days by the MICROBIAN team
Unfortunately, both OTCs were for more than 1/3 covered by snow so we had to remove the upper snow layer (Fig.2), thereby ensuring not to touch and disturb the soil communities below.
Fig.2: Valentina and Sam near the OTCs in Teltet.
On Friday, Saturday and Monday we went to the Perlebandet nunatak which is situated West of Utsteinen (Fig.1). We found quite a diverse set of communities consisting of microbial biofilms and various species of lichens. In the Northern and Southern nunatak we sampled 15 of these communities and installed i-button loggers. These devices will measure temperature and relative humidity every three hours during the next year. These data will help us to understand the relation between microclimatic conditions and the presence of particular communities and microbial organisms. We also installed new OTCs in the area and sampled them in triplicate (Fig.3).
Fig.3: Valentina and Sam sampling the newly installed OTCs in Perlebandet nunatak.
Because we need to work sterile, we are wearing latex gloves. However, because of the wind chill our hands were really getting cold. Latex gloves are certainly not Antarctic weather proof! Even undergloves were not sufficient to keep our hands warm enough. After our work in Perlebandet we sampled the OTCs in Teltet on Monday. We cant wait to see the results of the DNA sequencing analysis!
On Tuesday we sampled soil communities in the Pingvinane nunatak. The existing OTCs there were also snow covered so we removed the upper snow layer and hope to sample them later this week. Today it was snowy and the visibility was poor. Hence, we needed to stay at the station, but Valentina and Sam used their time to try out the assembly of the snow fences together with Pierre-Yves, our field guide, and Paul, who is a member of the technical staff (Fig.4). Paul is probably one of the most experienced technicians in Antarctica!
Fig.4: Pierre-Yves and Sam measuring the snow fence so it can be safely attached to the sledge (left of picture).
The snow fences will allow us to assess the effect of increased snow cover on the microbial communities. This is interesting because several climate models predict increased snow cover in some Antarctic regions the coming century as a result of global change. The pre-assembly was really important, because Alain advised us to strengthen the installation to make it really wind proof. Paul installed an iron bar near the base of the snow fence which resulted in a very rigid structure (see picture). We believe we are ready to start the experiments with the snow fences!
