Antarctic cyanobacterial diversity: how important are the geographical and ecological factors?

On the Antarctic continent, cyanobacteria produce conspicuous benthic microbial mats in lakes, from the coastal regions to the mountains (till 84°S). However, little is known about theirl biodiversity in comparison with other regions of the world.
The BelSPO project AMBIO aimed to test whether (i) microbial communities are structured by the same factors as those shaping communities of macroorganisms, and (ii) endemism among cyanobacteria does exist.
We have analyzed the cyanobacterial biodiversity in a variety of aquatic habitats from the three main biogeographical regions (Continental, Maritime Antarctica and the Sub-Antarctic) and determined the ‘baseline’ data needed to understand the contribution of various processes that are responsible for the distribution patterns.