title: Resilience of microbial mats in Antarctic ponds to climate-relevant environmental disturbance

authors: Mills, Francesca

subjects: Antarctica

abstract: Continental Antarctica is a cold desert, where the hydrologic system is dependent on melting of snow and ice. In a warming climate it is projected that there will be a significant change in precipitation, evaporation, cloud formation, all affecting the ice-water dynamic. Hydrology is considered vulnerable to climatic change. Hydrological change cascades through the environment affecting Antarctic ponds which are important centres for inland microbial biodiversity. An understanding of community vulnerability to anticipated change can be developed through assessing organism and functional resilience to climate-related and other forms of disturbance. The aim of this study is to identify the effects of disturbance on microbial communities, specifically cyanobacterial mats, with a particular focus on changes that may occur resultant to anthropogenic climate change.

This study undertook three experiments, which identified impacts of disturbance on three key cyanobacterial mat functions – nitrogen fixation, photosynthesis/respiration, and recovery after a physical disturbance. Sampling was undertaken in the McMurdo Ice Shelf (MIS) meltwater ponds in late January 2019. The design for the nitrogen fixation experiment used a natural gradient of conductivity across five ponds (Fresh, Casten, P70, Brack and Salt) in a space-for-time approach that compared microbial composition and nitrogen fixation rates. The light disturbance study completed in New and P70 ponds tested mat ability to retain photosynthesis and respiration under a pulsed disturbance – covering microbial mats with shade cloth for 12 months. In this study the light-photosynthesis response and mat composition were analysed when shaded and not shaded (control plots). The third experiment examined short-term response to physical disturbance by observing the recovery of mat structure and community composition for 2 years was also completed in New and P70 ponds.

It was identified that there was no significant change in acetylene reduction (as a proxy for nitrogen fixation) over the salinity range. Acetylene reduction ranged between 22.4 ± 3.4 µMol/m²/h in Brack Pond (conductivity = 10.5 mS/cm) and 49.6 ± 17.1 µMol/m²/h in Casten Pond (conductivity = 2.3 mS/cm). The acetylene reduction difference was statistically significant between Brack Pond and Casten Pond (F = 0.006 (Bonferroni Correction significance of F ≤ 0.01)). Microbial mat composition changed across the conductivity gradient, but significant proportions of different N-fixing and mat-forming genera were evident along the salt gradient, suggesting functional resilience through species turnover.

It was also identified that when receiving a 95-96% decrease in ambient light photosynthetic bacteria were able to maintain photosynthesis and respiration at similar rates within the microbial mats. However, in shaded plots the maximum net oxygen production occurred at an average irradiance between 350 – 450 µMol photons m-²s-¹ and was inhibited at higher levels. In control plots the maximum net oxygen production was ≥900 µMol photons m-²s-¹. In control samples net photosynthesis exceeds zero (photosynthesis exceeds respiration) at ~275 µMol photons m-²s-¹, in shaded samples this occurred at ~100 µMol photons m-²s-¹. Rapid shifts in the appearance of mats under, and after shading led to the conclusion that the acclimation may be based on vertical migration of cyanobacteria within the mats, which showed no significant changes in relative abundance of taxa.

After physical removal of microbial mat, communities were shown to reform to similar relative abundances as control samples within two years of the disturbance, within this experiment a successional change in species abundance was observed. 

This research highlights the resilience of microbial mat populations on the MIS to the types of change that are anticipated to accompany climate change. It supports conclusions previously identified that cyanobacterial mats are functionally resilient to short-term and long-term disturbances. Ongoing research will improve the knowledge on the resilience of other functions required in these environments.

text: Resilience of microbial mats in Antarctic ponds to climate-relevant environmental disturbance Continental Antarctica is a cold desert, where the hydrologic system is dependent on melting of snow and ice. In a warming climate it is projected that there will be a significant change in precipitation, evaporation, cloud formation, all affecting the ice-water dynamic. Hydrology is considered vulnerable to climatic change. Hydrological change cascades through the environment affecting Antarctic ponds which are important centres for inland microbial biodiversity. An understanding of community vulnerability to anticipated change can be developed through assessing organism and functional resilience to climate-related and other forms of disturbance. The aim of this study is to identify the effects of disturbance on microbial communities, specifically cyanobacterial mats, with a particular focus on changes that may occur resultant to anthropogenic climate change.

This study undertook three experiments, which identified impacts of disturbance on three key cyanobacterial mat functions – nitrogen fixation, photosynthesis/respiration, and recovery after a physical disturbance. Sampling was undertaken in the McMurdo Ice Shelf (MIS) meltwater ponds in late January 2019. The design for the nitrogen fixation experiment used a natural gradient of conductivity across five ponds (Fresh, Casten, P70, Brack and Salt) in a space-for-time approach that compared microbial composition and nitrogen fixation rates. The light disturbance study completed in New and P70 ponds tested mat ability to retain photosynthesis and respiration under a pulsed disturbance – covering microbial mats with shade cloth for 12 months. In this study the light-photosynthesis response and mat composition were analysed when shaded and not shaded (control plots). The third experiment examined short-term response to physical disturbance by observing the recovery of mat structure and community composition for 2 years was also completed in New and P70 ponds.

It was identified that there was no significant change in acetylene reduction (as a proxy for nitrogen fixation) over the salinity range. Acetylene reduction ranged between 22.4 ± 3.4 µMol/m²/h in Brack Pond (conductivity = 10.5 mS/cm) and 49.6 ± 17.1 µMol/m²/h in Casten Pond (conductivity = 2.3 mS/cm). The acetylene reduction difference was statistically significant between Brack Pond and Casten Pond (F = 0.006 (Bonferroni Correction significance of F ≤ 0.01)). Microbial mat composition changed across the conductivity gradient, but significant proportions of different N-fixing and mat-forming genera were evident along the salt gradient, suggesting functional resilience through species turnover.

It was also identified that when receiving a 95-96% decrease in ambient light photosynthetic bacteria were able to maintain photosynthesis and respiration at similar rates within the microbial mats. However, in shaded plots the maximum net oxygen production occurred at an average irradiance between 350 – 450 µMol photons m-²s-¹ and was inhibited at higher levels. In control plots the maximum net oxygen production was ≥900 µMol photons m-²s-¹. In control samples net photosynthesis exceeds zero (photosynthesis exceeds respiration) at ~275 µMol photons m-²s-¹, in shaded samples this occurred at ~100 µMol photons m-²s-¹. Rapid shifts in the appearance of mats under, and after shading led to the conclusion that the acclimation may be based on vertical migration of cyanobacteria within the mats, which showed no significant changes in relative abundance of taxa.

After physical removal of microbial mat, communities were shown to reform to similar relative abundances as control samples within two years of the disturbance, within this experiment a successional change in species abundance was observed. 

This research highlights the resilience of microbial mat populations on the MIS to the types of change that are anticipated to accompany climate change. It supports conclusions previously identified that cyanobacterial mats are functionally resilient to short-term and long-term disturbances. Ongoing research will improve the knowledge on the resilience of other functions required in these environments.

year: 2021

title: Hueue

authors: Soo, Chin-En Keith

subjects: animation

abstract: HUEUE aims to capture the colour story of a movie and present it in an accessible time frame of a minute. Movies at their simplest are colour, sound and motion.

HUEUE aims to distil any movie into these basic forms and generate a unique form of escapism, bring the audience on a journey into the movie itself.

HUEUE creates a tunnel effect. The effect indicates an impression of a portal. This is intended to give life to the escapism and create a more concrete feeling of the journey with the aid of sequential colours flowing from the movie. The audio is condensed creating a pitch shift, simulating the Doppler effect. All these elements create an experience that accelerate the viewer into the escapism and further into the movie.

text: Hueue HUEUE aims to capture the colour story of a movie and present it in an accessible time frame of a minute. Movies at their simplest are colour, sound and motion.

HUEUE aims to distil any movie into these basic forms and generate a unique form of escapism, bring the audience on a journey into the movie itself.

HUEUE creates a tunnel effect. The effect indicates an impression of a portal. This is intended to give life to the escapism and create a more concrete feeling of the journey with the aid of sequential colours flowing from the movie. The audio is condensed creating a pitch shift, simulating the Doppler effect. All these elements create an experience that accelerate the viewer into the escapism and further into the movie.

year: 2017

title: Comparative fish abundance in the shallow Waikato lakes Whangape and Hakanoa

authors: Hicks, Brendan J.

abstract: The Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development contracted the University of Waikato to conduct boat electrofishing estimates of the fish abundance in lakes Whangape and Hakanoa; both are shallow, riverine lakes in the lower Waikato River floodplain and are about 2,000 years old. Lake Whangape (latitude 37.46853°S, longitude 175.05120°W) is a large (1,450 ha), shallow (maximum depth 2.7 m) lake to the west of the Waikato River; Lake Hakanoa (latitude 37.55258°S, longitude 175.16859°W) is a 52-ha lake in suburban Huntly with a maximum depth of 2.5 m.
We fished 10 sites for 10 mins in both lakes Whangape and Lake Hakanoa; sites fished were 253-609 m long (1,012-2,436 m² in area) in Lake Whangape and 125-276 m long (500-1,104 m² in area) in Lake Hakanoa.
No submerged aquatic macrophytes were seen in either lake. Fishing was conducted close to the water's edge in Lake Hakanoa, but the shallow margins in Lake Whangape restricted fishing at most sites to 30-70 m from the shoreline. The shoreline was much more accessible in Lake Hakanoa, and was dominated by raupo (Typha orientalis) with willows (Salix spp.) in places. Submerged tree trunks and logs in Lake Hakanoa made navigation difficult in parts of the lake margins.
We caught a total of 118 fish in Lake Whangape, where shortfin eels (Anguilla australis) were the most abundant fish, and 594 fish in Lake Hakanoa, where gambusia (Gambusia affinis) the most abundant species. In Lake Whangape, shortfin eels comprised the greatest total biomass (12.4 kg), with koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) almost equally abundant (11.4 kg). In Lake Hakanoa, koi carp were most abundant (74.4 kg), followed by shortfin eels (22.1 kg).
Fish were unevenly spread among sites in Lake Whangape and koi carp were relatively sparsely among sites. In Lake Hakanoa, in contrast, fish were more evenly spread among sites, but with higher concentrations of catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) and goldfish (Carassius auratus) at a few sites. Biomass of fish caught in each of the ten 10-min fishing shots reflected the numerical distributions, with some wide variations between sites. Fish densities were generally lower in Lake Whangape than in Lake Hakanoa; however, common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) and grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) occurred in Whangape but not in Hakanoa. Areal fish biomass was dominated by shortfin eels and koi carp in Lake Whangape, but koi carp dominated the fish biomass in Lake Hakanoa, despite the smaller number of carp than eels. This was because of the large mean weight of koi carp (about 1,000 g) compared to the smaller shortfin eels (mean weight about 200 g in both lakes).

text: Comparative fish abundance in the shallow Waikato lakes Whangape and Hakanoa The Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development contracted the University of Waikato to conduct boat electrofishing estimates of the fish abundance in lakes Whangape and Hakanoa; both are shallow, riverine lakes in the lower Waikato River floodplain and are about 2,000 years old. Lake Whangape (latitude 37.46853°S, longitude 175.05120°W) is a large (1,450 ha), shallow (maximum depth 2.7 m) lake to the west of the Waikato River; Lake Hakanoa (latitude 37.55258°S, longitude 175.16859°W) is a 52-ha lake in suburban Huntly with a maximum depth of 2.5 m.
We fished 10 sites for 10 mins in both lakes Whangape and Lake Hakanoa; sites fished were 253-609 m long (1,012-2,436 m² in area) in Lake Whangape and 125-276 m long (500-1,104 m² in area) in Lake Hakanoa.
No submerged aquatic macrophytes were seen in either lake. Fishing was conducted close to the water's edge in Lake Hakanoa, but the shallow margins in Lake Whangape restricted fishing at most sites to 30-70 m from the shoreline. The shoreline was much more accessible in Lake Hakanoa, and was dominated by raupo (Typha orientalis) with willows (Salix spp.) in places. Submerged tree trunks and logs in Lake Hakanoa made navigation difficult in parts of the lake margins.
We caught a total of 118 fish in Lake Whangape, where shortfin eels (Anguilla australis) were the most abundant fish, and 594 fish in Lake Hakanoa, where gambusia (Gambusia affinis) the most abundant species. In Lake Whangape, shortfin eels comprised the greatest total biomass (12.4 kg), with koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) almost equally abundant (11.4 kg). In Lake Hakanoa, koi carp were most abundant (74.4 kg), followed by shortfin eels (22.1 kg).
Fish were unevenly spread among sites in Lake Whangape and koi carp were relatively sparsely among sites. In Lake Hakanoa, in contrast, fish were more evenly spread among sites, but with higher concentrations of catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) and goldfish (Carassius auratus) at a few sites. Biomass of fish caught in each of the ten 10-min fishing shots reflected the numerical distributions, with some wide variations between sites. Fish densities were generally lower in Lake Whangape than in Lake Hakanoa; however, common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) and grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) occurred in Whangape but not in Hakanoa. Areal fish biomass was dominated by shortfin eels and koi carp in Lake Whangape, but koi carp dominated the fish biomass in Lake Hakanoa, despite the smaller number of carp than eels. This was because of the large mean weight of koi carp (about 1,000 g) compared to the smaller shortfin eels (mean weight about 200 g in both lakes).

year: 2016