TerrANTALife 1.0 Biodiversity data checklist of known Antarctic terrestrial and freshwater life forms.

Background: Incomplete species inventories for Antarctica represent a key challenge for comprehensive ecological research and conservation in the region. Additionally, data required to understand population dynamics, rates of evolution, spatial ranges, functional traits, physiological tolerances and species interactions, all of which are fundamental to disentangle the different functional elements of Antarctic biodiversity, are mostly missing. However, much of the fauna, flora and microbiota in the emerged ice-free land of the continent have an uncertain presence and/or unresolved status, with entire biodiversity compendia of prokaryotic groups (e.g. bacteria) being missing. All the available biodiversity information requires consolidation, cross-validation, re-assessment and steady systematic inclusion in order to create a robust catalogue of biodiversity for the continent. New information: We compiled, completed and revised eukaryotic species inventories present in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in Antarctica in a new living database: terrANTALife (version 1.0). The database includes the first integration in a compendium for many groups of eukaryotic microorganisms. We also introduce a first catalogue of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) of prokaryotic biodiversity. Available compendia and literature to date were searched for Antarctic terrestrial and freshwater species, integrated, taxonomically harmonised and curated by experts to create comprehensive checklists of Antarctic organisms. The final inventories comprises 470 animal species (including vertebrates, free-living invertebrates and parasites), 306 plants (including all Viridiplantae: embryophytes and green algae), 997 fungal species and 434 protists (sensu lato). We also provide a first account for many groups of microorganisms, including non-lichenised fungi and multiple groups of eukaryotic unicellular species (Stramenophila, Alveolata and Rhizaria (SAR), Chromists and Amoeba), jointly referred to as "protists". In addition, we identify 1753 bacterial (obtained from 348117 ASVs) and 34 archaeal genera (from 1848 ASVs), as well as, at least, 14 virus families. We formulate a basic tree of life in Antarctica with the main lineages listed in the region and their "known-accepted-species" numbers.

Macroalgal microbiome biogeography is shaped by environmental drivers rather than geographical distance.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Contrasting patterns of host and microbiome biogeography can provide insight into the drivers of microbial community assembly. Distance-decay relationships are a classic biogeographical pattern shaped by interactions between selective and non-selective processes. Joint biogeography of microbiomes and their hosts is of increasing interest owing to the potential for microbiome-facilitated adaptation. METHODS: In this study, we examine the coupled biogeography of the model macroalga Durvillaea and its microbiome using a combination of genotyping by sequencing (host) and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing (microbiome). Alongside these approaches, we use environmental data to characterize the relationship between the microbiome, the host, and the environment. KEY RESULTS: We show that although the host and microbiome exhibit shared biogeographical structure, these arise from different processes, with host biogeography showing classic signs of geographical distance decay, but with the microbiome showing environmental distance decay. Examination of microbial subcommunities, defined by abundance, revealed that the abundance of microbes is linked to environmental selection. As microbes become less common, the dominant ecological processes shift away from selective processes and towards neutral processes. Contrary to expectations, we found that ecological drift does not promote structuring of the microbiome. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that although host macroalgae exhibit a relatively 'typical' biogeographical pattern of declining similarity with increasing geographical distance, the microbiome is more variable and is shaped primarily by environmental conditions. Our findings suggest that the Baas Becking hypothesis of 'everything is everywhere, the environment selects' might be a useful hypothesis to understand the biogeography of macroalgal microbiomes. As environmental conditions change in response to anthropogenic influences, the processes structuring the microbiome of macroalgae might shift, whereas those governing the host biogeography are less likely to change. As a result, increasingly decoupled host-microbe biogeography might be observed in response to such human influences.

Genomic Tools in Biological Invasions: Current State and Future Frontiers.

Human activities are accelerating rates of biological invasions and climate-driven range expansions globally, yet we understand little of how genomic processes facilitate the invasion process. Although most of the literature has focused on underlying phenotypic correlates of invasiveness, advances in genomic technologies are showing a strong link between genomic variation and invasion success. Here, we consider the ability of genomic tools and technologies to (i) inform mechanistic understanding of biological invasions and (ii) solve real-world issues in predicting and managing biological invasions. For both, we examine the current state of the field and discuss how genomics can be leveraged in the future. In addition, we make recommendations pertinent to broader research issues, such as data sovereignty, metadata standards, collaboration, and science communication best practices that will require concerted efforts from the global invasion genomics community.