Changes in the fungal community of Austre Brøggerbreen deglaciation area, Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, High Arctic

Abstract

Austre Brøggerbreen is located in Ny-Ålesund in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway, and is known as one of the most retreating glaciers in the world. We selected five sites in the retreating area and investigated the mycoflora in each of them. A total of 58 fungal strains were isolated and classified into 14 species (Cryptococcus gilvescens, Cryptococcus victoriae, Mrakia gelida, Mrakia robertii, Mrakia psychrophila, Rhodotorula glacialis, Rhodotorula psychrophenolica, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Thelebolus microsporus, Mortierella alpina, Mortierella polygonia, Mortierella elongata, Mortierella horticola, and Mucor hiemalis). We showed that the mycoflora clearly changes with distance from the glacier terminus in Austre Brøggerbreen deglaciation area.