Thomson Alex Innes, Gray Andrew, Colesie Claudia, Thomas Naomi, Moulton Hannah, Convey Peter, Smith Alison G, Fretwell Peter, Peck Lloyd, Davey Matthew P
Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Oban, UK.
Global Change Institute, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 18;16(1):2647. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-57725-6.
Algal blooms play important roles in physical and biological processes on glacial surfaces. Despite this, their occurrence and impacts within an Antarctic context remain understudied. Here, we present evidence of the large-scale presence, diversity and bioalbedo effects of algal blooms on Antarctic ice cap systems based on fieldwork conducted on Robert Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Algal blooms are observed covering up to 2.7 km (~20%) of the measured area of the Robert Island ice cap, with cell densities of up to 1.4 × 10 cells ml. Spectral characterisation reveal that these blooms increase melting of the ice cap surface, contributing up to 2.4% of total melt under the observed conditions. Blooms are composed of typical cryoflora taxa, dominated by co-occurring Chlorophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae, and Ancylonema. However, morphological variation and genetic diversity in Ancylonema highlight the influence of regional endemism and point to a large and under-characterised diversity in Antarctic cryoflora.
藻华在冰川表面的物理和生物过程中发挥着重要作用。尽管如此，它们在南极环境中的发生情况和影响仍未得到充分研究。在此，我们基于在罗伯特岛（南极南设得兰群岛）开展的实地考察，展示了藻华在南极冰盖系统中的大规模存在、多样性及生物反照率效应的证据。观测到藻华覆盖了罗伯特岛冰盖测量区域的2.7千米（约20%），细胞密度高达1.4×10个/毫升。光谱特征表明，这些藻华增加了冰盖表面的融化，在观测条件下对总融水量的贡献高达2.4%。藻华由典型的低温植物类群组成，主要是同时出现的绿藻纲、小球藻纲和Ancylonema。然而，Ancylonema的形态变异和遗传多样性凸显了区域特有性的影响，并表明南极低温植物存在大量特征不明的多样性。
