Comparative microbiology of moss- peat decomposition on the Scotia Arc and Antarctic Peninsula.

Abstract

The hypothesis that microbial activity and abundance in Antarctic peat are regulated more by substrate and moisture than directly by temperature of latitude was broadly supported throughout a 51o to 68oS transect. A consistent difference between respiration in Polytrichum- and Drepanocladus-peat supported the substrate-dependence notion. A correlation between respiration and a broad mixture range in Drepanocladus was precluded by a narrower range in Polytrichum. The absence of correlation between O2 uptake and CO2 release suggested anaerobic CO2-production in wet conditions. Corrections using Q10 coefficients indicated limited temperature responses.-from Author