Supraglacial and subglacial ecosystems contribute differently towards proglacial ecosystem communities in Kuoqionggangri Glacier, Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Glaciers are experiencing unprecedented global warming, resulting in significant changes to microbial communities and nutrient transport within glacial ecosystems. However, the influence of supraglacial and subglacial ecosystems on the proglacial ecosystem remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated microbial communities across seven habitats in three glacial ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau using 16S rRNA sequencing. Our results revealed that the proglacial ecosystem exhibited higher alpha diversity but lower network stability than other ecosystems. Moreover, supraglacial and subglacial ecosystems contributed differently to the community diversity and stability of the proglacial ecosystem. Supraglacial ecosystems provided more high-abundance species and had a greater impact on the proglacial ecosystem’s stability, while subglacial ecosystems released a broader range of diverse taxa. These findings highlight the distinct influences of supraglacial and subglacial ecosystems on microbial community dynamics in proglacial environments, offering insights into their interactions and potential impacts on downstream environments as glaciers retreat. Proglacial ecosystem community structure is driven both by high-abundance supraglacial ecosystems and high-diversity subglacial ecosystems, according to in-situ data from the Tibetan Plateau