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New snow from Andes Ecuador records of algae the of Nuevos registros de algas de los nevados andinos Ecuatorianos Linda Nedbalovd CZECH CZ-128 44 of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University Prague, Vinina Prague in 7, 2, REPUBLIC. [email protected] AS CZ-379 82 CZECH REPUBLIC of Botany CR, Dukelska 135, Trebon. Institute REPUBLIC. Abstract zed group of organisms confined to glac melt surface e v cnvpluhi Un equatorial regions, and a new reeord of spherical cysts of the «red snow» alga ch was previously reported from Pichincha, another Ecuadorian volcano, as various species of Kev uords Hiniza. icier, ! Resumen Las algas de nieve son un grupo especializado de organismos que se encuentran confinados a los glaciares y campos de nievedelasregionespolares, templadas\ tropicales n analisis del agua sup. ulor) produjeron el I ; eCylindrvcystis :v.nones ccuatoriales, un nuevo registro para los hi. \ Pichincha, otro i Introduction Equatorial glaciers are vai dependent on melt water from the glaciers (Kaser g i rate and are predicted to disappear within a few 2003, Vincent et 2005). Thus declining glaciei al. al. & decades (Klein Kincaid, 2006, P.M. Hall, pers. have severe socio-economic consequences, will The comm.). retreat of glaciers affects the ecology Along with melting glaciers, a unique type of hydrology of tropical 1 r hitat disappearing from the tropics, habitats is i.e., ano Ecuador, in central snow Snow cryophilous such biota, as algae. algae r melt significandy less ; a specialized group of extremophiles adapted to ; harsh conditions; their taxonomy, physiology, and decade comm. from the keepers of the n (pers. ^ & Hoham ecology were reviewed by Kol e.g., (1968), refuge'aUliniza). Soil stability 'related to soil water ^ is & °- & 2001 a" d I<om k Nedbal 2007 The Podwojevski Poulenard, 2000). ( )' ( )- * hom Most results were obtained e surve of snow ^a y on might be linked ^ Hiniza indirectly glaciei t _;,m whereas knowledge of distribution of the fwH^l™, fields .it^H ,™i to acceleratedt erosion through altered hydrology, soil although supporting data not available. further, is a 2001 Takeuchi ScKohshima, 2004; ichi, many communities ; agriculture of rural is largely ndes Ecuadoi of of activity (Sauer, 1971; Hall, 1977). The iters 2006). These studies point to the . on two mountains retreated the during ciers the centuries to cover the remaining area of 30 km2 by i particular green cryosestic algae t km 44 2 by 1975 (Hastenrath, from the order Zygnematales (Mesotaeum i respectively, 1981). , NW The glaciers were surveyed on: the side of 1 . W 4840 m, and SE liza at altitude of 2. side of Due to die li m 5200 and 4850 of altitudes m, and polar regions the glaciated tropical mountains can SW Cayambe 3. side of at altitudes be expected to host particular cryofloras. Nevertheless, I 5200-5500 m. At each study several site, replicate snow algae research in the tropics has received little samples of the surface glacier ice and melt water were & '.. New relates to the glaciers of Guinea (Kol Peterson, put in a thermos bottle an known 1976), whereas only very about the little is where they were stored in a refrigerator prior to snow algae species composition in other tropica] alpine transportation to the laboratory regions. In Ecuador, «red snow» was reported from the mountains of Antisana and Pichincha (Lagerheim, Live samples were examined and photographed A 1892). brief sampling 4 ilk- perpetual snow fields in the laboratory using an Olympus BX50 microscope > of Pichincha Sdnur DP («nvigeu des Pichmcha») yielded 21 (magnification lOOOx) with 10 camera a system. species of algae and cyanobacteria, two species of Confocal microscopy was used to reconstruct the and one fungi, species of rotifer. Since the pereistenl three-dimensional (3D) structure of chloroplasts in snow disappeared horn I'ichincha during the second the cells of Cylimlmystis brebissoni (Leica microsco|* XIX half of the century 98 snow AOBS (Hastenrath, the equipped with 1 ) system). 1 Results Further algological survey of other Ecuadorian glaciers and snow fields was not done, and so the composh >n it of the Ecuadorian cryoflora remains unknown. In this floristic contribution we report new records for the cryoflora of Ecuador from the glacier Our of compared Iliniza. results are with those from studies of glacier cryovegetation elsewhere. «/•',, Cyluulmyst Kallki Barv cryophUa [)<2 f. Study and methods sites Kol (Chlorophyta, Zygnematales) The extensive survey was carried out on three 38-50 x 25- Cells cylindrical with rounded ip ices, Ecuadorian mountains, llini/a himhora/o, and 30 50-63 42-50 ( '/mi Older x (Fig. 1A). cells larger , Cayambe, October 2006 and in August 2007. Iliniza accumulation of m 26 and 5248 (5 1 a.s.l.) is a twin-peak volcano located carotenoids with a (1 i» \\\\ hloiopl; axial ( ist in the western By cordillera. 1870-74, the snow-line complicated 31 )\i ructure visu hv con focal all , m occurred at 4660 and an individual glacier reached microscopy sample. '', the (li<. |; ,es in m . down as far 4480 on as the western a.s.1. side. The Chlmnydomonas Wille (Bauer) nivalis m cf. snow-line 4950 retreated to ca bv 1975, and a.s.l. (Chlorophyta, :hlamvdomonadales only km' ( ca 1.5 ot the higher of the peaks remained glaciated (Hastenrath 1981). Chimbrazo (6310 m Red spherical to slightly oval as ts, 25-'30 1Ani in and Cayambe (5790m diameter, with mucilage a.s.l.) are heavily thick cell wall, usually utthout a.s.l.) glaciated represent a very specific plant group that further increases the extraordinary ecological diversity of the By habitat requirements, cryophilous algae tropics. can be divided in two groups, species inhabiting i.e., the snow pack and species confined to glacier ice Both groups were found Ecuador (Kol, 1968). in and (Lagerheim, 1892), their survi Andes directly related to the future r is Among two the encountered species, Cylindrocystis brebissoni ayophila considered to be a typical «ice- is f. many specialist» which found in regions of northern is in high bogs by a larger size (Kol, 1968). Recendy, cell on was also sampled the Tyndall glacier in southern it & Snow algae found on the Iliniza glacier Patagonia (Takeuchi Kohshima, 2004). This study 1. . B - (Ecuador). A, Cylindrocystis brebissoni (Rallfs) from the report of the species equatorial is first C De - Chlamydomonas Bary ayophila Kol, cf. f. = 20 (Bauer) Wille; scale bar \xm nivalis Red Chlamydomonas were resting stages of comparison with sample frequent in the in ; new pre\ rted from Pichincha as three rep 1 C C - of genus sanguinm, astewsperma, species this i.e., and Cglacialis (Lagerheim, 1892). Only the description of C. sanguinea was based on the observation of Although the cryophilous algae comprise only a At present, the taxonomy of Chlamydomonas flagellates. minor part of the entire species richness of the species causing the red snow coloration in polar and & Ecuadorian Andes (Jorgensen Leon-Y, 1999), they and :iplinary e requires detailed study including laboratory cultivation of pure and genedc methods strains (e.g. Cambridge, 168-228. pp. Hoham et al., 2002). Kol 1 968) denned C. nivalis as a Hoham R.W., Bonome T.A., Martin C.W. ( Leebens-Mack A complex snow» 2002. combined «red species regrouping taxa J.H. \> rDNA and rbcL phylogenetic analysis chi zed by a similar morphology of their t Chloromonas and Chlam immotile cells, which are usually the only life cycle Volvocales) emphasizing snow and other col temperature 1051-106 habitats. Phycol. 38: we stage observed in a sample of red snow. Therefore, J. & Jorgensen P.M. Leon-Y. 1999. Catalogue S. of prefer to retain this traditional species name for the tl Monogr. ador. Syst. Be mas population from the Iliniza glacier. Gard. 1-1081. 75: . & Because of the high degree of geographical Georges C, Gomez Tamayo isolation, ., J. and phenotypical genotypical comparison with its populations from and originating polar temperate would regions be of a particular interest. & Klein A.G. Kincaid 2006. Retreat of J.L. glaciers Lagerheim (1892) reported «red snow» and Mt on Java, Irian Jaya, determined from 200 and IKONOS 2002 observed a rich cryosestic community on satellite images. Journal Pichincha. of Glaciology 52 1-15. (176): we In contrast, did not observe any coloration of the Kol, E. 1968. Kryobiologie Kryovegetation. In: Elster, I. which would glacier surface have indicated blooms & W. Ohle Die Binnengewasser (eds.), 24, J. snow of algae. Moreover, the microscopic examination Schweizerbart, 1-216. Stuttgart, pp. & of the samples revealed the presence of only two Kol E. Peterson 1976. Cryobiology. Hope J.A. In: & Radok G.S., Peterson U. Allison Our J.A., (eds.), species. survey, however, was random I. rather a The New Equatorial Glaciers of Guinea. Balkema, sampling than a systematic research of the Ecuadorian Rotterdam, 81-91. pp. & cryophilous Komarek flora. Overall, the diversity of the Nedbalova 2007. Green L. cryosestic J. algae. In: Seckbach Algae and Cvanobacteria cryophilous and (ed.), algae cyanobacteria in the equatorial J. Extreme in Environments. 321-342. Springer, pp. regions remains underexplored with only three surveys Lagerheim D. 1892. Die Schneeflora des Pichincha. New (including work) this limited to Guinea and Deuiseh Ges Ber. Bat 10: 5 7-534, Tab. 28. 1 & Ecuador. Further study of Podwojevski their distribution, life cycles, P. Poulenard 2000. Los suelos de los J. paramos and del Ecuador. In: Los Suelos del Paramo, ecological requirements therefore needed, is Serie Paramo GTP, Abya 27-36. Quito, 5, Yala, pp. particularly in the situation of rapidly vanishing snow Sauer W. 1971. Geologic von Ecuador. Gebriider and ice conditions. Borntraeger, Berlin. Takeuchi N. 2001. The snow Acknowledgements altitiulinal distribution of algae on an Alaska glacier (Gulkana Glacier in the Alaska Range). Hydrol. 3447-3459. Process. 15: This study was supported by the research grant & Takeuchi Kohshima A N. snow GAAV 2004. algal S. MSMT 601 and 10702, by partly the 1 grants community on a Patagonian Tyndall glacier glacier, 0021620828 and AV0Z60050516. Macek Petr in the Southern Patagonia Antarct. Arct. Icefield. is Alp. Res. 36: 91-98. thanked for collection of the samples from Cayambe the & OndYej Takeuchi N., Uetake Fujita K, Aizen V.B. glacier, Sebesta thanked J., is for technical help A Nikotin commur S.D. 2006. snow algal with the and confocal fluorescence microscopy Akkem moui glacier in the Russian Altaj Annals of Glaciology 378-384. 43: Literature cited Vincent C, Wagnon Ribstein Favier P., P., V., Hall M.L. & 1977. El Volcmmmo d Francou Meur en Ecuador. Le Biblioteca B., E. Six D. 2005. Glaciff Ecuador, Publicacion del [.P.G.H., Quito. fluctuations in the Alps and the tropical Andes in Hastenrath 1981. The S. Glaciation of the Ecuadorian Andes. Balkema, & Rotterdam. Yoshimura Y, Kohshima / Ohtani S 1997. S. Hoham & R.W. Duval B. 2001. Microbial ecology .'- of snow and freshwater ice. In: Jones H.G., Pomerov & Walker Hoham J.W., D.A. R.W. Snow (eds),