Environmental DNA (eDNA) is frequently used to infer distributions of microorganisms in Antarctica. Their distributions relative to environmental variables are, in turn, sometimes used to infer their physiological range (and a relationship between the two is generally assumed for conservation purposes). We sought to determine whether ecological inferences based on distributions accurately reflect tolerances of the organisms co...

The unicellular motile green alga Haematococcus lacustris (Chlorophyceae) is an economically important species capable of producing the high value pigment astaxanthin, used widely in aquaculture, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Phylogenetic diversity in this genus is not very well understood even though significant physiological variability between strains has been observed. Understanding diversity can be important fro...

Populations of a centric diatom that produces copious extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), known as ‘lake snow’, have developed in several large microtrophic lakes in New Zealand over the past 10 years. The EPS coats fishing lines and blocks water filters. The phenomenon was first noticed in Lake Wanaka in the early 2000s and has recently been reported in Lakes Coleridge and Wakatipu, with single, isolated historical event...

Nostoc commune Vaucher (a cyanobacterium) is a very conspicuous terrestrial primary producer in Victoria Land, continental Antarctica. Because polar ecosystems are considered to be especially sensitive to environmental changes, understanding the environmental constraints on net carbon (C) fixation by N. commune is necessary to determine the effects of environmental changes on the ecological functioning of ice‐free areas of the...