Airborne fungi in Longyearbyen area (Svalbard, Norway) — case study

Studies on the presence of atmospheric fungi in both Arctic and Antarctic polar areas are rare, and many of them were carried out briefly. Currently, when climate change is a fact, polar areas may be subject to various changes and fluctuations, negatively affecting sensitive polar ecosystems. The pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 2021-05, Vol.193 (5), p.290, Article 290
Main Authors: Pusz, Wojciech, Urbaniak, Jacek
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air
Airborne microorganisms
Antarctic Regions
Archipelagoes
Arctic environments
Arctic Regions
Arctic zone
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Bioindicators
Climate change
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental science
Fungi
Glacier melting
Glaciers
Ice environments
Indicator organisms
Indicator species
Microorganisms
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Norway
Organic matter
Svalbard
Taxa
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Summary:Studies on the presence of atmospheric fungi in both Arctic and Antarctic polar areas are rare, and many of them were carried out briefly. Currently, when climate change is a fact, polar areas may be subject to various changes and fluctuations, negatively affecting sensitive polar ecosystems. The paper presents the results of tests on presence of fungi in the air over 30 years after the last investigations at the Svalbard Archipelago. A total of fifteen taxa of fungi were isolated in area of Longyearbyen, the majority of which were saprotrophic fungi of the genus Cladosporium that are associated with dead organic matter. Therefore, the presence of this taxon may be a good bioindicator of changes occurring in the Arctic environment, indirectly indicating the melting of glaciers and exposing increasingly larger areas inhabited by microorganisms, including fungi, which increase in number in the air. Additionally, the number of tourists visiting Longyearbyen is increasing, which may significantly affect the number and type of fungi in the air.
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1007/s10661-021-09090-2