02513nas a2200277 4500008004100000245010700041210006900148260001200217300001600229490000700245520169000252653001201942653001601954653001601970653001401986653001502000653001602015100002602031700002102057700002402078700001702102700001702119700002002136700002402156856005502180 2018 eng d00aSpatial and temporal patterns of microbial mats and associated invertebrates along an Antarctic stream0 aSpatial and temporal patterns of microbial mats and associated i c10/2018 a1911–19210 v413 a

 

Microbial biofilms are biological hotspots in many alpine and polar ecosystems, but the controls on and functional significance of their fauna are little known. We studied cyanobacterial mats and the underlying sediment in a glacial meltwater stream in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. We investigated mat biomass (total and phototrophic), diatoms, and micro-meiofauna (nematodes, rotifers, and tardigrades) at nine sites along a 1670 m stream reach in a cold, low-flow growing season, and in a warmer growing season in which peak flows (above 100 L s−1) scoured the mats. Diatom and invertebrate communities were not related, but mat biomass in the low-flow year was negatively related to nematode abundance, including that of the omnivore Eudorylaimus. In the high-flow year that followed, invertebrate abundance was reduced in the mats, diatom community structure was altered, and mat biomass was higher. The difference in invertebrate abundance between years was greater in mats in upstream reaches, where the greatest increases in flow velocity may have occurred, and was negligible in mats in downstream reaches as well as in the sediment beneath the mats. Integrating our results with previous findings, we generate two predictive hypotheses to be tested in glacial meltwater streams: (1) under peak flows invertebrates decline in the microbial mats, while (2) the sediment beneath the mats is a refuge from the flow disturbance. Our results also suggest that, under stable flow conditions, microinvertebrate grazers could exert top-down control on microbial mat biomass.

 

10adiatoms10aDisturbance10aDry valleys10aEpilithon10aMicrofauna10aStream flow1 aAndriuzzi, Walter, S.1 aStanish, Lee, F.1 aSimmons, Breana, L.1 aJaros, Chris1 aAdams, Byron1 aWall, Diana, H.1 aMcKnight, Diane, M. uhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00300-018-2331-4