Due to the growing attention on global climate change and glacier retreat, the study on glacier microbiota has gradually become an important research field.  

Prof. ZHANG Wei’s research team from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the processes of sequestration, release and colonization of glacier microbes alter the diversity and structure of glacier microbial communities, as well as the complexity of microbial networks.  

Researchers used Z-P plot of species topological roles to screen the keystone taxa of glacial microbial communities. The results indicated that the keystone taxa in the glacial microbial ecosystem of the Dongkemadi glacier mainly belong to the genus Polaromonas. 

The study demonstrated that hierarchical interactions among different microorganisms increased the complexity of the bacterial-fungal-archaeal network, and this complexity sequentially increased with the processes of sequestration, releasing, and colonization of glacial microorganisms.  

Furthermore, in the glacial ecosystem, most of the keystone taxa are influenced by the combined characteristics of multiple environmental factors, suggesting that these keystone taxa are not severely lost due to sudden changes in individual environmental factors. 

“As a sensitive area of climate change, the future temperature trend of glacier area will significantly impact the structure of the glacier microbial community,” said Prof. ZHANG. 

The study, entitle "Habitat changes due to glacial freezing and melting reshape microbial networks," was published in Environment International on May. 31. 

Contact:

ZHANG Wei

E-mail: zhangwei@nieer.ac.cn