Cyanobacterial diversity in soil crusts has been extensively studied in arid lands of temperate regions, particularly semi-arid steppes and warm deserts. Nevertheless, Arctic soil crusts have received far less attention than their temperate counterparts. Here, we describe the cyanobacterial communities from various types of soil crusts from Svalbard, High Arctic. Four soil crusts at different development stages (ranging from poorly-developed to well-developed soil crusts) were analysed using 454 pyrosequencing of the V3-V4 variable region of the cyanobacterial 16S rRNA gene. Analyses of 95 660 cyanobacterial sequences revealed a dominance of OTUs belonging to the orders Synechococcales, Oscillatoriales and Nostocales. The most dominant OTUs in the four studied sites were related to the filamentous cyanobacteria Leptolyngbya sp. Phylotype richness estimates increased from poorly- to mid-developed soil crusts and decreased in the well-developed lichenized soil crust. Moreover, pH, ammonium and organic carbon concentrations appeared significantly correlated with the cyanobacterial community structure.

Centre for Polar Ecology University of South Bohemia 37005 ČeskéBudějovice Czech Republic

Centre for Polar Ecology University of South Bohemia 37005 ČeskéBudějovice Czech Republic Institute of Botany Academy of Science of the Czech Republic 37982 Třeboň Czech Republic

Centre for Protein Engineering University of Liège 4000 Liège Belgium

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Marked Succession of Cyanobacterial Communities Following Glacier Retreat in the High Arctic