Antarctic Plateau
Microbial abundance is low (&lt;103 cells/ml of snowmelt). The microbial community is mainly composed of members of the Alphaproteobacteria class (e.g. Kiloniellaceae and Rhodobacteraceae), which is one of the most well-represented bacterial groups in marine habitats, Bacteroidetes (e.g. Cryomorphaceae and Flavobacteriaceae) and Cyanobacteria. Based on research, polar microorganisms should not only be considered as deposited airborne particles, but as active components of the snowpack ecology of the Antarctic Plateau.