MICROTEA: Structure and function of microbial communities in challenging, polar terrestrial habitats: A pan-Arctic survey

The visit to Zackenberg has been part of an INTERACT-sponsored, pan-Arctic survey of Biological Soil Crusts (BSC), lithobiotic microbial communities, and cyanobacterial communities of springs and seepages. Looking for patterns of dis- tribution and variation of such structures around the Arctic, we hypothesised that water represents the key factor controlling their development; that they are composed by a restricted number of well adapted microbial species all over the Arctic; that they possess common patterns of develop- ment and biodiversity through the Arctic; and that Arctic communities, though less isolated than the corresponding commu- nities in the Antarctica, are nevertheless largely autochthonous.