Functional ecology of microbial freshwater communities from Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, Antarctica)

2012

This thesis studies the microbial communities inhabiting freshwater ecosystems of Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, Antarctica). This is an ice-free area of around 60 km2 that holds numerous lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands. As a deglaciated region, the functioning of aquatic ecosystems is very closely linked with the surrounding land. So, when snow melting occurs during summer, interactions with the catchment become more intense, and coincide with enhanced biological activity. We conducted a systematic survey in the most representative lakes during some consecutive austral summers between 2002 and 2006. Most of these lakes are located on a plateau, where the landform facilitates water r…