Distribution of aerophilous diatom communities associated with terrestrial green macroalgae in the South Shetland Islands, Maritime Antarctica

The establishment of diatom communities depends on environmental factors such as the type of substrate and geographic conditions that influence the dispersal processes of these organisms. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the similarity between diatom communities associated with the macroalgae Prasiola crispa (Lightfoot) Kützing in relation to spatial distance from six sampled sites located in the South Shetland Islands, Maritime Antarctica. The diatom flora associated with Prasiola crispa was represented by 23 species distributed in 15 genera. Pinnularia australoschoenfelderi Zidarova, Kopalová & Van de Vijver, Luticola austroatlantica Van de Vijver, Kopalová, S.A.Spaulding & Esposito, Luticola amoena Van der Vijver, Kopalová, Zidarova & Levkov, Pinnularia austroshetlandica (Carlson) Cleve-Euler and Psammothidium papilio (D.E. Kellogg et al.) Kopalová & Zidarova were the most abundant species in our samples, together they represented 68% of the total number of individuals collected. There was great similarity and abundance of the diatom communites among the sampled points, which resulted in the absence of a linear relationship pattern with distance between sampling points. We conclude that distance was not a factor of differentiation of Antarctic diatom communities associated with terrestrial green macroalgae. This suggests that Antarctic environments may have unique characteristics with homogeneous abiotic factors, at least in relation to this substrate.