@article {3254, title = {Cyanobacterial diversity in benthic mats of the McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, Antarctica}, journal = {Polar Biology}, volume = {38}, year = {2015}, month = {01/2015}, pages = {1097 - 1110}, abstract = {
Perennially ice-covered, meromictic lakes in\ the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are useful models to\ study the relationship between cyanobacterial and environmental\ variables. They have rich benthic cyanobacterial\ mat accumulations and stable stratification of physical and\ chemical conditions. Here, we evaluated cyanobacteria\ from benthic mats from multiple depths in three geographically\ separated ice-covered lakes, Lakes Vanda,\ Hoare and Joyce, using 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. We\ identified 19 ribotypes, mostly Oscillatoriales and several
Chroococcales, as well as potentially novel cyanobacterial\ ribotypes. The majority of ribotype diversity was shared\ between lakes, and only a weak relationship between ribotype\ community structure and environmental variables\ was evident. Multivariate analysis of all lake\–depth combinations\ implied that photosynthetically active radiation,\ dissolved reactive phosphorus and conductivity were\ potentially important for shaping benthic communities in\ McMurdo Dry Valley lakes. Cyanobacterial-specific pigment\ signature analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography
showed that the cyanobacterial communities\ responded to light conditions similarly, irrespective of\ community composition. The results imply a capability\ within a suite of cyanobacteria to colonise, adapt and grow\ across broad environmental ranges and geographic space,\ and such adaptability may provide a high degree of community\ resistance and resilience to future climate-driven\ environmental change in Antarctic terrestrial aquatic
ecosystems.
}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, issn = {0722-4060}, doi = {10.1007/s00300-015-1669-0}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00300-015-1669-0http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00300-015-1669-0}, author = {Zhang, L. and Jungblut, Anne D. and Ian Hawes and Dale T. Andersen and Sumner, Dawn Y. and Mackey, Tyler J.} }