Saxicolous, lecideoid lichenized-fungi have a cosmopolitan distribution but, being mostly cold adapted, are especially abundant in polar and high-mountain regions. To date, little is known of their origin or the extent of their trans-equatorial dispersal. Several mycobiont genera and species are thought to be restricted to either the northern or southern hemisphere, whereas others are thought to be widely distributed and occur in both hemispheres. However, these assumptions often rely on morphological analyses and lack supporting molecular genetic data. Also unknown is the extent of regional differentiation in the southern Polar Regions.An extensive set of lecideoid lichens (185) was collected along a latitudinal gradient at the southern end of South America, always staying in areas of subantarctic climate by increasing the elevation of the collecting sites with decreasing latitude. The investigated specimens were brought into a global context by including Antarctic and cosmopolitan sequences from other studies. For each symbiont three markers were used to identify intraspecific variation (mycobiont: ITS, mtSSU, RPB1; photobiont: ITS, psbJ-L, COX2). For the mycobiont the saxicolous genera Lecidea, Porpidia, Poeltidea and Lecidella and their photobionts Asterochloris and Trebouxia were phylogenetically revised. The resultsshow for several globally distributed species groups geographically highly differentiated subclades, classified as operational taxonomical units (OTUs), which were assigned to the different regions of southern South America (sSA). Further, for sSA, several small endemic and well supported clades were detected at the species level for both symbionts. Keywords subantarctic subregion, pioneer vegetation on rock, global distribution, local differentiation, endemism, glacial refugia Dedicated to Hannes Hertel on his 80 th birthday in appreciation of his life-long investigation of lecideoid lichens. nM of each of the four dNTPs, 0.3 µM of each primer and about 1 ng genomic DNA.For each symbiont, three markers were amplified and sequenced with the primers presented in Table S3 with conditions as described in Ruprecht et al. (2014) and Ruprecht et al. (2016). Unpurified PCRproducts were sent to Eurofins Genomics/Germany for sequencing. Mycobiont:The internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS) was amplified for all specimens. Furthermore, the mitochondrial small subunit (mtSSU) and the large subunit of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase 2 (RPB1) were amplified for the Lecidea/Porpidida/Poeltidea group.

Whether and how alpine organismic communities respond to ongoing environmental changes is difficult to assess quantitatively, given their intrinsically slow responses, remote locations and limited data. Here we provide a synthesis of the first five years of a multidisciplinary, highly standardized, long-term monitoring programme of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Austrian Hohe Tauern National Park and companion sites in northern Italy and the central Swiss Alps. The programme aims at evidencing the ecological state and trends in largely late-successional, high-elevation ecosystems. We present the conceptual framework, the study design and first results. Replicated over five regions, different sites and a multitude of permanent plots, the abiotic (microclimate, physics and chemistry of soils and water bodies), biodiversity (plants, animals, microbes), and productivity data (alpine grassland, lakes, streams) provide a representative reference for future re-assessments. The wide spectrum of biological baseline data presented and their spatial and temporal variation also illustrate the degree of uncertainty associated with smaller-scale and short-term studies and the role of stochasticity in long-term biological monitoring.

Antibiotics are primarily found in the environment due to human activity, which has been reported to influence the structure of biotic communities and the ecological functions of soil and water ecosystems. Nonetheless, their effects in other terrestrial ecosystems have not been well studied. As a result of oxidative stress in organisms exposed to high levels of antibiotics, genotoxicity can lead to DNA damage and, potentially, cell death. In addition, in symbiotic organisms, removal of the associated microbiome by antibiotic treatment has been observed to have a big impact on the host, e.g., corals. The lung lichen Lobaria pulmonaria has more than 800 associated bacterial species, a microbiome which has been hypothesized to increase the lichen’s fitness. We artificially exposed samples of L. pulmonaria to antibiotics and a stepwise temperature increase to determine the relative effects of antibiotic treatments vs. temperature on the mycobiont and photobiont gene expression and the viability and on the community structure of the lichen-associated bacteria. We found that the mycobiont and photobiont highly reacted to different antibiotics, independently of temperature exposure. We did not find major differences in bacterial community composition or alpha diversity between antibiotic treatments and controls. For these reasons, the upregulation of stress-related genes in antibiotic-treated samples could be caused by genotoxicity in L. pulmonaria and its photobiont caused by exposure to antibiotics, and the observed stress responses are reactions of the symbiotic partners to reduce damage to their cells. Our study is of great interest for the community of researchers studying symbiotic organisms as it represents one of the first steps to understanding gene expression in an endangered lichen in response to exposure to toxic environments, along with dynamics in its associated bacterial communities.

Mit der Umsetzung dieses langfristigen und länderübergreifenden Monitoring-und Forschungsprogramms ist ein weiterer wichtiger Schritt gelungen, den Nationalpark Hohe Tauern als Ort der Forschung zu stärken und für die Wissenschaft sichtbar zu machen. Der Aufbau einer Langzeitbeobachtung, welche die Untersuchung von Ökosystemprozessen in den Mittelpunkt stellt, war und ist mir ein sehr großes Anliegen. Vieles an Know-How wurde in die Konzipierung gesteckt, speziell die inhaltliche Fokussierung erforderte einiges an Abstimmungsgesprächen. Schlussendlich wurden etliche Arbeitsstunden in die operative Umsetzung gesteckt und so freut es mich, Ihnen die Synthese des Pilotprojekts nun präsentieren zu dürfen. Unser Schutzgebiet ist ein unerschöpfl iches Freiluftlabor. Die Vielfalt und Dimension erlauben es dem Nationalpark ein "Mehr" an unberührten Flächen und hochalpinen Lebensräumen der Forschung zur Verfügung zu stellen. Dieses Netz von Referenzfl ächen-sogenannte "grüne Null-Flächen"-stellt einen immensen Wert für die Wissenschaft & Forschung dar, da diese Flächen als ideale Vergleichsbasis für die vom Menschen beeinträchtigten Ökosysteme dienen. So sehen wir es als unsere Aufgabe an jene Veränderungen, die der Klimawandel im sensiblen Ökosystem des Hochgebirges mit sich bringt, sichtbar zu machen. Ökologische Schlüsselprozesse sollen identifi ziert und quantifi ziert werden und daraus gewonnene Kenntnisse sind einem breiten Publikum zugänglich zu machen und nicht zuletzt können diese Erkenntnisse auch die Grundlage politischer Entscheidungen sein. Für mich scheint es daher von essentieller Bedeutung, dass eben dieses Forschungsprogramm die Charakteristik und Besonderheit des Nationalparks Hohe Tauern aufgreift. Der Nationalpark Hohe Tauern erkennt die Chance, dass durch die enge Kooperation mit den österreichischen Universitäten und Forschungseinrichtungen sichergestellt wird, dass sich die angewandten Methoden stets am aktuellen Stand der Wissenschaft orientieren. Die Vernetzung von Wissen und Erfahrungswerten und die Einbindung junger Forschergenerationen stärken eben diese Zusammenarbeit. Schutzgebietsforschung ist eine wesentliche Zukunftsaufgabe des Nationalparks Hohe Tauern. Die alpine Freilandforschung soll weiterhin unterstützt werden, denn Wissenschaft & Forschung geht uns alle an. Letztendlich liegt die Neugierde und Entdeckerfreude-in der Natur der Sache. LH-Stv.

No abstract