Chapter 7
Towards a Microbial Conservation
Perspective in High Mountain Lakes
Emilio O. Casamayor
Abstract Microorganisms are fundamental components to maintain the ecological
integrity of any ecosystem. Microscopic organisms have been, however, mostly
excluded in conservation studies and microbiology has been developed as a scientific discipline lacking a natural history background. The detailed genetic studies
carried out in the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park and recent
works in the mostly scarce literature, show that the mostly oligotrophic and highly
diluted waters in high mountain lakes hold a larger microbial phylogenetic
uniqueness than expected and are reservoirs of large evolutionary potential, providing an overall natural history perspective for alpine archaea, bacteria, fungi and
protists. Microbes arise as an important part of the biological richness of these
environments that should be considered as a fundamental component of the natural
heritage. Microbial ecologists are now closer than ever to deal with conservation
biology concepts such as biological richness, extinction, biotic interactions, and
ecosystems management. First insights emerge for establishing the microbial tolerance to different environmental conditions, for estimating which is the potentiality
of survival and dispersal abilities in the different species, and for highlighting how
the underappreciated microbiota will respond to stresses and disturbances brought
by the global change. Warming and eutrophication may jeopardise the most
idiosyncratic microbial populations that have found in these (ultra)oligotrophic and
diluted systems the most appropriate conditions to thrive. Environmental managers
and lawyers, citizen, and stakeholders, in general, have now access to scientifically
informed advice for the unseen microbial life in the unexpectedly rich high
mountain microbial ecosystems.
Keyword Bacteria Á Archaea Á Protists Á Fungi Á Biodiversity Á Conservation
biology Á Lakes
E.O. Casamayor (&)
Integrative Freshwater Ecology Group, Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB),
Spanish Council for Research (CSIC), Girona, Spain
e-mail: casamayor@ceab.csic.es
© The Author(s) 2017
J. Catalan et al. (eds.), High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World,
Advances in Global Change Research 62, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55982-7_7
157
Towards a Microbial Conservation
Perspective in High Mountain Lakes
Emilio O. Casamayor
Abstract Microorganisms are fundamental components to maintain the ecological
integrity of any ecosystem. Microscopic organisms have been, however, mostly
excluded in conservation studies and microbiology has been developed as a scientific discipline lacking a natural history background. The detailed genetic studies
carried out in the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park and recent
works in the mostly scarce literature, show that the mostly oligotrophic and highly
diluted waters in high mountain lakes hold a larger microbial phylogenetic
uniqueness than expected and are reservoirs of large evolutionary potential, providing an overall natural history perspective for alpine archaea, bacteria, fungi and
protists. Microbes arise as an important part of the biological richness of these
environments that should be considered as a fundamental component of the natural
heritage. Microbial ecologists are now closer than ever to deal with conservation
biology concepts such as biological richness, extinction, biotic interactions, and
ecosystems management. First insights emerge for establishing the microbial tolerance to different environmental conditions, for estimating which is the potentiality
of survival and dispersal abilities in the different species, and for highlighting how
the underappreciated microbiota will respond to stresses and disturbances brought
by the global change. Warming and eutrophication may jeopardise the most
idiosyncratic microbial populations that have found in these (ultra)oligotrophic and
diluted systems the most appropriate conditions to thrive. Environmental managers
and lawyers, citizen, and stakeholders, in general, have now access to scientifically
informed advice for the unseen microbial life in the unexpectedly rich high
mountain microbial ecosystems.
Keyword Bacteria Á Archaea Á Protists Á Fungi Á Biodiversity Á Conservation
biology Á Lakes
E.O. Casamayor (&)
Integrative Freshwater Ecology Group, Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB),
Spanish Council for Research (CSIC), Girona, Spain
e-mail: casamayor@ceab.csic.es
© The Author(s) 2017
J. Catalan et al. (eds.), High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World,
Advances in Global Change Research 62, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55982-7_7
157