The role of aerial dispersal in shaping patterns of biodiversity remains poorly understood, mainly due to a lack of coordinated efforts in gathering data at appropriate temporal and spatial scales. It has been long known that the rate of dispersal to an ecosystem can significantly influence ecosystem dynamics, and that aerial transport has been identified as an important source of biological input to remote locations. With the considerable effort devoted in recent decades to understanding atmospheric circulation in the south-polar region, a unique opportunity has emerged to investigate the atmospheric ecology of Antarctica, from regional to continental scales. This concept note identifies key questions in Antarctic microbial biogeography and the need for standardized sampling and analysis protocols to address such questions. A consortium of polar aerobiologists is established to bring together researchers with a common interest in the airborne dispersion of microbes and other propagules in the Antarctic, with opportunities for comparative studies in the Arctic.

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth UK

Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute Saint Petersburg Russia

Auckland University of Technology Auckland New Zealand

Australian Antarctic Division Kingston TAS Australia

Brigham Young University Provo UT USA

British Antarctic Survey Cambridge UK

Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA

Department of Geosciences Princeton University Princeton NJ USA

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Northumbria UniversityNewcastle upon Tyne UK; British Antarctic SurveyCambridge UK

German Aerospace Center Cologne Germany

Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam Germany

Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research University of Porto Porto Portugal

International Medical University Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Korea Polar Research Institute Incheon South Korea

Laval University Québec QC Canada

NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field CA USA

Northumbria University Newcastle upon Tyne UK

Rhodes University Grahamstown South Africa

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Madrid Spain

Universidad de la República Montevideo Uruguay

Universidade de Sao Paulo Sao Paulo Brazil

Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble France

University of Bristol Bristol UK

University of Innsbruck Innsbruck Austria

University of Liege Liège Belgium

University of Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia

University of South BohemiaČeské Budějovice Czech Republic; Institute of Botany of the Academy of Science of the Czech RepublicTřeboň Czech Republic

University of Waikato Hamilton New Zealand

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Spatial Variability of Antarctic Surface Snow Bacterial Communities