Emerging from the ice‐fungal communities are diverse and dynamic in earliest soil developmental stages of a receding glacier

Abstract

SummaryWe used amplicon sequencing and isolation of fungi from in‐growth mesh bags to identify active fungi in three earliest stages of soil development (SSD) at a glacier forefield (0–3, 9–14, 18–25 years after retreat of glacial ice). Soil organic matter and nutrient concentrations were extremely low, but the fungal diversity was high [220 operational taxonomic units (OTUs)/138 cultivated OTUs]. A clear successional trend was observed along SSDs, and species richness increased with time. Distinct changes in fungal community composition occurred with the advent of vascular plants. Fungal communities of recently deglaciated soil are most distinctive and rather similar to communities typical for cryoconite or ice. This indicates melting water as an important inoculum for native soil. Moreover, distinct seasonal differences were detected in fungal communities. Some fungal taxa, especially of the class Microbotryomycetes, showed a clear preference for winter and early SSD. Our results provide insight into new facets regarding the ecology of fungal taxa, for example, by showing that many fungal taxa might have an alternative, saprobial lifestyle in snow‐covered, as supposed for a few biotrophic plant pathogens of class Pucciniomycetes. The isolated fungi include a high proportion of unknown species, which can be formally described and used for experimental approaches.

Fungal Community in Antarctic Soil Along the Retreating Collins Glacier (Fildes Peninsula, King George Island)

“…In addition, many fungi associated with points near the glacier were mostly saprophytic, and the most distant points showed dominance of cosmopolitan fungi. These data corroborate with Dresch et al [73], who found that many fungal taxa might present an alternative saprobial lifestyle in snow-covered areas.…”

Ecosystem Birth near Melting Glaciers: A Review on the Pioneer Role of Ground-Dwelling Arthropods

“…However, diatom algae, pollen, and fungal hyphae were seen in collembolan guts [25]. A diverse fungal community can exist close to glaciers, more resembling cryoconite and glacier surface than typical soil communities [61]. Furthermore, unpublished studies of Collembola guts from the Italian Dolomites have indicated the presence of cyanobacteria.…”

Broad geographical and ecological diversity from similar genomic toolkits in the ascomycete genusTetracladium

“…Tetracladium -like fungi, fungi identified as Tetracladium based on ITS similarity without morphological information, are increasingly reported to be among the most frequently found and abundant taxa in culture and metagenomics based studies of soil fungi, rhizosphere fungi, and endophytes world-wide. These studies represent diverse ecosystems, soils, and associated plants, ranging from domesticated crops (carrot (22) oilseed rape (23), ginseng (24), lettuce (25) and wheat (26, 27) to wild orchids (28) and mosses (29), from agricultural fields (30) to glacial and subglacial soils (31, 32), from sea level (33) to high altitudes (above 2600 m.a.s.l (34)), and spanning the globe from the Arctic (35) to the Antarctic (29, 36). Three psychrophilic species have been described from glacial soils from the Tibet Plateau (20)—one of the most extreme environments on earth; fungal extremophiles are of ecological and industrial interest due to their roles in ecosystem functioning and the secondary metabolites they produce (33, 37).…”