Phototrophic community succession as driver of mineral weathering and soil formation along chronosequences in maritime Antarctica

风化作用对维持地球上的生命至关重要，因为它将基岩变成土壤，并为生物提供养分。反之亦然，生命本身通过光合作用投入到风化过程中而大量参与矿物风化。我们的目的是研究生物风化的过程和阈值，作为光自营养群落演替的功能，从微藻/蓝藻到地衣主导阶段，再到高等植物的出现，沿着全球变化引起的南极海洋冰川退缩所建立的土壤时间序列。为此，将沿着风化作用的时间序列、土壤有机碳分配、矿物原位组成和引入和定义的岩石形成矿物表面的生物风化进行评估，并与光养群落结构相关。我们期望有助于理解生命是否以及如何在极端陆地生态系统中改变自己的栖息地，以及这种生物地球系统如何对日益变暖的南极洲的全球变化引起的变化作出反应。

Weathering is of utmost importance for the support of life on earth, as it turns bedrock into soil and delivers nutrients to organisms. Vice versa, life itself is heavily engaged in mineral weathering by investment of photosynthates into weathering processes. We aim at investigating the processes and thresholds in biogenic weathering as a function of photoautotrophic community succession from microalgae/cyanobacteria to lichen-dominated stages towards the appearance of higher plants along soil chronosequences built by global-change induced glacier retreat in maritime Antarctica. For this, along the chronosequences weathering agents, organic carbon allocation to the soil, mineral in-situ composition and biogenic weathering on surfaces of introduced and defined, rock forming minerals will be assessed and related to phototrophic community structure. We expect to contribute to the understanding if and how life alters its own habitat in an extreme terrestrial ecosystem, and how this biogeosystem may respond to changes induced by Global Change in an increasingly warmer Antarctica.