Active geothermal systems are relatively rare in Antarctica and represent metaphorical islands ideal to study microbial dispersal. In this study, we tested the macro‐ecological concept that high dispersal rates result in communities being dominated by either habitat generalists or specialists by investigating the microbial communities on four geographically separated geothermal sites on three Antarctic volcanoes (Mts. Erebus,...

Summary Hot springs integrate hydrologic and geologic processes that vary over short‐ and long‐term time scales. However, the influence of temporal hydrologic and geologic change on hot spring biodiversity is unknown. Here, we coordinated near‐weekly, cross‐seasonal (~140 days) geochemical and microbial community analyses of three widely studied hot springs with local precipitation data in Yellowstone National Park. One spring...

Water is an important component of many recreational opportunities and New Zealand invests significant resources in recreational water quality (RWQ) monitoring to assess risks to public health. However, monitoring primarily focuses on microbiological hazards and RWQ is considerably broader than this. The goal of this study was to take a comprehensive approach to evaluating RWQ while exploring the potential for greater public i...

Correlative species distribution models are based on the observed relationship between species’ occurrence and macroclimate or other environmental variables. In climates predicted less favourable populations are expected to decline, and in favourable climates they are expected to persist. However, little comparative empirical support exists for a relationship between predicted climate suitability and population performance. We...

Summary Recently, methanotrophic members of the phylum V errucomicrobia have been described, but little is known about their distribution in nature. We surveyed methanotrophic bacteria in geothermal springs and acidic wetlands via pyrosequencing of 16 S rRNA gene amplicons. Putative methanotrophic V errucomicrobia were found in samples covering a broad temperature range (22.5–81.6° C ), but only in acidic conditions ( pH 1.8–5...

Summary In 1998, a cultivation‐independent survey of the microbial community in Obsidian Pool, Yellowstone National Park, detected 12 new phyla within the Domain Bacteria . These were dubbed ‘candidate divisions’ OP1 to OP12. Since that time the OP10 candidate division has been commonly detected in various environments, usually as part of the rare biosphere, but occasionally as a predominant community component. Based on 16S r...

We identified 100 scientific questions that, if answered, would have the greatest impact on conservation practice and policy. Representatives from 21 international organizations, regional sections and working groups of the Society for Conservation Biology, and 12 academics, from all continents except Antarctica, compiled 2291 questions of relevance to conservation of biological diversity worldwide. The questions were gathered...

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II DRB genotypes were examined in two geographically isolated populations of California sea lions ( Zalophus californianus ) (Gulf of California and California coastal Pacific Ocean). Genomic DNA from 227 California sea lions was examined using eight sequence‐specific primer (SSP) pairs flanking the putative peptide‐binding site. A total of 40 different Zaca‐DRB genotype configurati...