Abstract
Glaciers are inhabited by various organisms, which are adapted to cold environments of snow and ice. Studies have recently revealed existence of such organisms on glaciers worldwide and distinctive characteristics of their community on Asian glaciers. Snow and ice algal communities on Asian glaciers are characterized by abundant cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria can form cryoconite granules, which are spherical aggregates of microbes, organic matter and mineral particles, on the ablation ice surface. The granules can reduces surface albedo and accelerate melting of glacier, thus, mass balance of Asian glaciers is substantially affected by the algae. The community also varies within Asia from Himalayas in south to Altai in north, probably due to gradients of climate and vegetation from the south to the north of Asian high mountains. Bacterial communities on Asian glaciers have recently been revealed by DNA analysis and also varied with geographical and climate conditions. Ice cores drilled on themountain glaciers enabled us to study temporal variations in the microbial communities for decades to centuries. Studies on microbial communities on Asian glaciers is important to evaluate effect of recent global warming on cryosphere and
glacial ecosystems
