Myco- and photobiont associations in crustose lichens in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (Antarctica) reveal high differentiatio
- PDF / 3,670,740 Bytes
- 17 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 12 Downloads / 155 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
Myco‑ and photobiont associations in crustose lichens in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (Antarctica) reveal high differentiation along an elevational gradient Monika Wagner1 · Arne C. Bathke2 · S. Craig Cary3,4 · T. G. Allan Green3,5 · Robert R. Junker6,1 · Wolfgang Trutschnig2 · Ulrike Ruprecht1 Received: 13 November 2019 / Revised: 18 September 2020 / Accepted: 25 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Climatically extreme regions such as the polar deserts of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (78° S) in Continental Antarctica are key areas for a better understanding of changes in ecosystems. Therefore, it is particularly important to analyze and communicate current patterns of biodiversity in these sensitive areas, where precipitation mostly occurs in form of snow and liquid water is rare. Humidity provided by dew, clouds, and fog are the main water sources, especially for rock-dwelling crustose lichens as one of the most common vegetation-forming organisms. We investigated the diversity and interaction specificity of myco-/photobiont associations of 232 crustose lichen specimens, collected along an elevational gradient (171–959 m a.s.l.) within the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The mycobiont species and photobiont OTUs were identified by using three markers each (nrITS, mtSSU, RPB1, and nrITS, psbJ-L, COX2). Elevation, positively associated with water availability, turned out to be the key factor explaining most of the distribution patterns of the mycobionts. Pairwise comparisons showed Lecidea cancriformis and Rhizoplaca macleanii to be significantly more common at higher elevations and Carbonea vorticosa and Lecidea polypycnidophora at lower elevations. Lichen photobionts were dominated by the globally distributed Trebouxia OTU, Tr_A02 which occurred at all habitats. Network specialization resulting from myco-/photobiont bipartite network structure varied with elevation and associated abiotic factors. Along an elevational gradient, the spatial distribution, diversity, and genetic variability of the lichen symbionts appear to be mainly influenced by improved water relations at higher altitudes. Keywords Crustose lichens · Specificity · Spatial patterns · Polar desert · Foehn winds · Humidity Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02754-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Ulrike Ruprecht [email protected] 1
Department of Biosciences, Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
2
Department of Mathematics, Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
3
School of Science, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
4
The International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, School of Science, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
5
Departamento de Farmacologia, Farmacognosia y Botánica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
6
Department of Biology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
Introduction The McMurdo Dry Vall
Data Loading...
