Evidence for rapid ecosystem retrogression along a post-glacial chronosequence in Antarctica

Glacial retreat due to global warming is exposing large tracts of barren glacial sediments that are quickly colonized by CO₂-fixing microbial communities that can constitute the climax community in many high-Arctic, alpine, and Antarctic environments. Despite the potential importance of these processes, little is known about microbial community successional dynamics and rates of carbon (C) sequestration in environments where higher plants are slow or unable to establish. We analyzed microbial community succession and C and N accumulation in newly exposed sediments along an Antarctic glacial chronosequence where moss and microbial autotrophs are the dominant primary producers. During the first 4 years of succession (0 to 40 m from the glacier) algae (including diatoms) were the most relatively abundant eukaryotes, but by the second phase studied (8 to 12 years) moss amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) dominated. The rise in moss coincided with a significant buildup of C and N in the sediments. The final two phases of the successional sequence (16 to 20 and 26 to 30 years) were marked by declines in microbial species richness and moss relative abundance, that coincided with significant decreases in both total C and N. These retrogressive declines coincided with a large increase in relative abundance of predatory Vampyrellidae suggesting a possible mechanism for retrogression in this and perhaps other terrestrial ecosystems at the edge of the cryosphere. These findings have implications for understanding CO₂ sequestration and ecosystem succession in microbial-dominated regions of the cryobiosphere where large tracts of land are currently undergoing deglaciation.