Dynamics of 'Glacier Blood' microbial ecosystems in the European Alps

山地环境是极端陆生微藻的家园，这些微藻富含色素，以保护它们免受强光条件的影响。以这种微生物活动为特征的冰雪表面的红色染色（被称为“冰川血”）现在在全球高海拔地区明显更加频繁和广泛，这是气候变暖在最基本层面上影响山地生态的证据。尽管高纬度冰团表面的藻类在生物地球化学循环和冰反照率反馈中发挥着全球性的重要作用，但对高寒地区藻类群落的分布、多样性和功能的研究却很少，这意味着对它们的起源和动态、生产方式以及对碳循环和冰川融化的影响知之甚少。应用地球观测工具量化冰雪表面藻类时空动态2。对冰雪表面和融化产物进行实地取样。应用宏基因组和元蛋白质组学分析样品来阐明生态系统的组成和功能4。在集水区尺度上量化碳的来源和通量以及冰雪表面生态系统的贡献积雪和及时性藻类影响环境变暖并受其影响，高海拔地区藻类群落的扩张对山区生态系统和冰体具有潜在的不稳定后果。该项目将结合地球观测方法，量化高山尺度的藻类群落扩张，并结合地块和流域水平的采样，以实现：(a)元基因组学和元蛋白质组学分析，建立微生物群落组成、过程和代谢途径；(b)将量化生物和地质来源的碳通量的碳质量和碳同位素分析。这套新颖的方法旨在提供独特的见解，以了解藻类群落的功能和动态，以及它们在隔绝大气二氧化碳的生物地球化学过程中的作用。

Mountain environments are home to extremophilicterrestrial microalgae that become loaded with pigments toprotect them from strong light conditions. The red stainingof snow and ice surfaces characteristic of such microbialactivity (known as 'glacier blood') is now noticeably morefrequent and widespread at high altitudes globally and isevidence that warming is impacting mountain ecology atthe most fundamental of levels. Although algae residingwithin the surface of high-latitude ice masses are now well-known to play globally significant roles in biogeochemicalcycling and ice-albedo feedbacks, the distribution, diversity,and function of algal communities specific to alpine regionshas been poorly studied, meaning little is understoodregarding their origin and dynamics, means of production,and impact on carbon cycling and glacier melt.Objectives1. Apply Earth Observation tools to quantify algal spatialand temporal dynamics on snow and ice surfaces2. Undertake field sampling of snow and ice surfaces andmelt products3. Apply metagenomic and metaproteomic analyses tosamples to elucidate ecosystem composition and function4. Quantify the sources and fluxes of carbon at thecatchment scale and the contribution from snow- and ice-surface ecosystemsNovelty & timelinessAlgae affect and are affected by environmental warmingand expansion of algal communities at high elevation haspotentially destablising consequences for mountainecosystems and ice bodies. This project will couple EarthObservation approaches that will quantify algal communityexpansion at the Alpine scale with plot- and catchment-level sampling to enable: (a) metagenomic andmetaproteomic analyses that will establish microbialcommunity composition, processes and metabolicpathways; and (b) carbon quality and carbon isotopeanalysis that will quantify carbon fluxes from biological andgeological sources. This novel suite of methods aims toprovide unique insight into algal community functioning anddynamics and their role in biogeochemical processes thatsequester atmospheric CO2.