Spatially consistent microbial biomass and future cellular carbon release from melting Northern Hemisphere glacier surfaces

Stevens, Ian T.; Irvine-Fynn, Tristram D. L.; Edwards, Arwyn; Mitchell, Andrew C.; Cook, Joseph M.; Porter, Philip R.; Holt, Tom O.; Huss, Matthias; Fettweis, Xavier; Moorman, Brian J.; Sattler, Birgit; Hodson, Andy J.

doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00609-0

Article (Scientific journals)

Spatially consistent microbial biomass and future cellular carbon release from melting Northern Hemisphere glacier surfaces

Stevens, Ian T.; Irvine-Fynn, Tristram D. L.; Edwards, Arwyn et al.

2022 • In Communications Earth and Environment, 3 (1)

Peer reviewed

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/296411

DOI
10.1038/s43247-022-00609-0

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Keywords :

General Earth and Planetary Sciences; General Environmental Science

Abstract :

[en] AbstractMelting glacier ice surfaces host active microbial communities that enhance glacial melt, contribute to biogeochemical cycling, and nourish downstream ecosystems; but these communities remain poorly characterised. Over the coming decades, the forecast ‘peak melt’ of Earth’s glaciers necessitates an improvement in understanding the state and fate of supraglacial ecosystems to better predict the effects of climate change upon glacial surfaces and catchment biogeochemistry. Here we show a regionally consistent mean microbial abundance of 104 cells mL−1 in surface meltwaters from eight glaciers across Europe and North America, and two sites in western Greenland. Microbial abundance is correlated with suspended sediment concentration, but not with ice surface hydraulic properties. We forecast that release of these microbes from surfaces under a medium carbon emission scenario (RCP 4.5) will deliver 2.9 × 1022 cells yr−1, equivalent to 0.65 million tonnes yr−1 of cellular carbon, to downstream ecosystems over the next ~80 years.

Research center :

SPHERES - ULiège

Disciplines :

Earth sciences & physical geography

Author, co-author :

Stevens, Ian T.

Irvine-Fynn, Tristram D. L.

Edwards, Arwyn

Mitchell, Andrew C.

Cook, Joseph M.

Porter, Philip R.

Holt, Tom O.

Huss, Matthias

Fettweis, Xavier ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Climatologie et Topoclimatologie

Moorman, Brian J.

Sattler, Birgit

Hodson, Andy J.

Language :

English

Title :

Spatially consistent microbial biomass and future cellular carbon release from melting Northern Hemisphere glacier surfaces

Publication date :

10 November 2022

Journal title :

Communications Earth and Environment

eISSN :

2662-4435

Publisher :

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Volume :

Issue :

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Tags :

CÉCI : Consortium des Équipements de Calcul Intensif
Tier-1 supercomputer

Additional URL :

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00609-0.pdf

Funders :

Royal Geographical Society [GB]
Aberystwyth University [GB]
NERC - Natural Environment Research Council [GB]
Royal Society [GB]
Climate Change Consortium for Wales (C3W) EU INTERACT
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
EU INTERACT Welsh Government and Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW): See Cymru National Research Network
Rolex Awards for Enterprise
Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Polar Continental Shelf Project

Funding text :

Gilchrist Educational Trust Scottish Arctic Club

Available on ORBi :

since 11 November 2022

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