High-mountain lakes are biodiversity hotspots sensitive to increasing regional and global climate warming. However, their microbial communities remain insufficiently characterized due to their remoteness and limited accessibility. This study aimed to...
Temperature increase is one of the main effects of climate change occurring worldwide, with drastic impacts on both terrestrial and aquatic biota. Changes in the dominant macroalgal taxa in the Venice Lagoon have been analyzed in relation to the rise...
Antarctica harbors some of the most extreme ecosystems on earth, where only two vascular plants persist. The native grass Deschampsia antarctica provides a model for plant–microbe interactions under intense abiotic stress. We present the first...
We assessed fungal diversity in water and sediment samples obtained from five Arctic lakes in Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard Islands, High Arctic) and five Antarctic lakes on Livingston and Deception Islands (South Shetland Islands), using DNA metabarcod...
To assess the diversity of bacterial taxa in Antarctic soils and obtain novel microbial resources, 15 samples from 3 sampling sites (DIS5, GWS7, FPS10) of South Shetland Islands and 2 sampling sites (APS18, CIS17) of Antarctic Peninsula were collecte...
4 September 2020
Antarctica, one of the harshest environments in the world, has been successfully colonized by extremophilic, psychrophilic, and psychrotolerant microorganisms, facing a range of extreme conditions. Fungi are the most diverse taxon in the Antarctic ec...
Cold-adapted species display remarkable genomic resilience under prolonged freezing and thawing cycles that would be lethal to most organisms. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of DNA damage response (DDR) and epig...
The last ice age considerably influenced distribution patterns of extant species of plants and animals, with some of them now inhabiting disjunct areas in the subarctic/arctic and alpine regions. This arctic-alpine distribution is characteristic for...
Caves and other subterranean ecosystems are characterized by stable, low temperatures, high humidity, and limited nutrient input, creating unique environments for extremophilic microorganisms. Among them, fungi play key roles in organic matter degrad...
The ice stored in caves is a widespread yet neglected cryospheric component. The cold-adapted biodiversity of ice caves has received very little attention from research, despite the potential abundance of endemic troglobiotic and cryophilic species a...
Comparative studies of seed germination of closely related taxa can help increase our understanding of the ecological limitations of cold-adapted plants and forecast how they might respond to global warming. No studies exist on the relationship betwe...
Straw return is crucial for sustainable agriculture, but its efficiency is limited by low temperatures in cold regions, especially in saline-alkali soils. This study investigates the degradation process of maize straw and the response of soil propert...
We studied the fungal diversity present in soils sampled along a deglaciated chronosequence from para- to periglacial conditions on James Ross Island, north-east Antarctic Peninsula, using DNA metabarcoding. A total of 88 amplicon sequence variants (...
The Ligurian Sea, located in the northwestern Mediterranean, is undergoing a dramatic shift in fish biodiversity due to climate change and species immigration. This study adopted a citizen science approach to provide new data on the current distribut...
This study presents the first subfossil beetle (Coleoptera) records from Lithuania, from Late Glacial organic deposits. Bulk sediment samples were collected from the Pamerkiai and Zervynos Outcrops in SE Lithuania, and from the Ventė Outcrop at...
Artificial (technical) snow production is an increasingly common practice in alpine regions, yet little is known about its role in shaping microbial communities at the molecular level. In this study, we combined culture-based methods with high-throug...
High mountain lakes are biodiversity treasures. They host endemic taxa, adapted to live in extreme environments. Among adaptations, production of diapausing eggs allows for overcoming the cold season. These diapausing eggs can rest in the sediments,...
Abandoned and flooded ore mines are examples of hostile environments (cold, dark, oligotrophic, trace metal) with a potential vast diversity of microbial communities rarely characterized. This study aimed to understand the effects of depth, the sourc...
Karst caves, formed by the erosion of soluble carbonate rocks, provide unique ecosystems characterized by stable temperatures and high humidity. These conditions support diverse microbial communities, including wall microbial fouling, aquatic biofilm...
Low-temperature stress serves as a critical abiotic stressor that severely restricts fish survival, biogeographic distribution, and aquaculture productivity. Pelteobagrus vachelli, an economically significant freshwater fish species, displays marked...
The formation of the western North American drylands has led to the evolution of an astounding diversity of species well adapted for such communities. Complex historical patterns often underlie the modern distribution of the flora and fauna of these...
Microorganisms can survive in extreme environments and oligotrophic habitats thanks to their specific adaptive capacity. Due to its severe and contrasting climate conditions, the cold mountain desert in Eastern Pamir provides a unique environment for...
Within the context of sustainable exploitation of phytogenetic resources, the present study aimed to develop species-specific seed germination protocols for eighteen native and potentially underutilized plant species originating from northeastern Gre...
Macellicephaloides Uschakov, 1955 (Annelida: Polynoidae) is a genus of deep-sea polychaetes characterized by a specialized pharynx bearing two pairs of jaws (with the dorsal pair fused) and three pairs of lateral papillae, the middle pair of which is...
Biological invasions are now seen as one of the main threats to the Antarctic ecosystem. An example of such an invasion is the recent colonization of the H. Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station area by the non-native grass Poa annua. This site was prev...
The Balkan Peninsula is considered one of the most important centres of orchid diversity in Europe. However, the patterns of orchid species richness in the Central Balkans have not been sufficiently studied so far. The aim of this study was, therefor...
Temperature fluctuations caused by climate change and global warming pose a threat to fish. The burbot (lota lota) population is particularly sensitive to increased water temperature, but the systematic impacts of high-temperature exposure on their l...
Artisan food production, with its unique flavors, is a source of knowledge about sustainable use of natural resources. This is because it reflects the skills of local communities in utilizing these resources (e.g., wild and cultivated plants and auto...