Elise Ida Blum Samuelsen has finished her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Biology at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Copenhagen University (KU), with lead supervisor Chris J. Barnes (GLOBE, KU).
Elise investigated the potential pathogens (bacteria and fungi and possible stem-boring insects as vectors) which are currently causing a disease threatening the critically endangered Hawaiian endemic plant Brighamia insignis. Using genetic markers she found some potential pathogens, so this is a valuable first step towards conservation efforts of this rare and special Hawaiian plant. She received the highest possible mark. Congratulations, Elise! Thanks to collaborators Nina Rønsted and Seana Walsh and the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii.
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Poem based on recent paper on how global wind systems have transported moss along Earth's latitudes!13/11/2020 It's not every day you find an email in your inbox with a poem based on your research! I was honoured that my latest paper on the biogeography of Ceratodon purpureus and its spread across the globe inspired Sam Illingworth from thepoetryofscience.scienceblog.com to make this great poem :)
Thank you, Sam Illingworth! The poem will also feature in the next episode of his podcast, to be released on 16/11/2020.  For more information on the paper:
Biersma, E.M., Convey, P., Wyber, R., Robinson, S.A., Dowton, M., Van De Vijver, B., Linse, K., Griffiths H. & Jackson, J.A. (2020) Latitudinal biogeographic structuring in the globally distributed moss Ceratodon purpureus. Front. Plant Sci. 11:502359. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.502359
Old Lineages in Distinct Biogeographic Regions
Additionally, the rise of modern flammable grass-, shrub- and woodlands (late Miocene onwards with peak origins in late Pliocene; Bond, 2015) could have promoted the spread of C. purpureus, as the species is also frequently found in fire-influenced habitats (it is even called “Fire Moss” as a common name in English). Furthermore, in the recent post-quaternary period, the origin and expansion of urban environments provided major sources of anthropogenically influenced disturbance potentially favorable to C. purpureus. Multiple Antarctic Colonizations, Including an Ancient Lineage We found at least three dispersal events to the Antarctic (see clades I, V and VI above). This reveals that Antarctica is not as isolated as is often assumed for spore-dispersed organisms (e.g. also seen in the Antarctic moss Chorisodontium aciphyllum; Biersma et al., 2018a). However, the analyses also revealed one old Antarctic clade (I), possibly isolated on the continent since the late Miocene or early Pliocene. Although more extensive sampling may be required to fully assess whether clade I is limited to Antarctica, its apparent ancient isolation suggests it may be a remnant lineage that has survived past glaciations in the maritime Antarctic in situ. Molecular, phylogenetic and biogeographic studies also suggest in situ survival for many groups of terrestrial fauna in Antarctica throughout the Quaternary, Neogene and even Paleogene (see Convey et al., 2008, 2009, 2020, and references therein). Recently, increased evidence has also been found of million-year persistence of the Antarctic flora, e.g. several endemic species of Schistidium (Biersma et al., 2018b), and Bryum argenteum (Pisa et al., 2014). Here, our data indicate that at least one lineage (I) of C. purpureus may also have had a long-term Antarctic presence in situ. Relevance for other organisms and evolutionary studies Our general findings may also be relevant to understanding global environmental influences on the biogeography of other organisms with microscopic propagules (e.g., spores) dispersed by wind. The findings may also be of relevance to further evolutionary studies on bryophytes, as C. purpureus is commonly used as a model organism in genetic, physiological, and developmental studies, in particular for studying the evolution of developmental processes in bryophytes (e.g. McDaniel et al., 2007, and references therein; Szövényi et al., 2014). For this type of developmental research, good baseline knowledge on the evolutionary history and global biogeography of a species is fundamental, for instance, for underpinning interpretation of crossing experiments, trait mapping and marker discovery, and controlling for demographic or population effects. The matrilineal biogeographic structure identified here therefore provides a useful framework for future genetic and developmental studies on bryophytes. For more information see: Biersma, E.M., Convey, P., Wyber, R., Robinson, S.A., Dowton, M., Van De Vijver, B., Linse, K., Griffiths H. & Jackson, J.A. (2020) Latitudinal biogeographic structuring in the globally distributed moss Ceratodon purpureus. Front. Plant Sci. 11:502359. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.502359 References: Biersma, E. M., Jackson, J. A., Bracegirdle, T. J., Griffiths, H., Linse, K., Convey, P. (2018a). Low genetic variation between South American and Antarctic populations of the bank−forming moss Chorisodontium aciphyllum (Dicranaceae). Polar. Biol. 41, 599–610. doi: 10.1007/s00300-017-2221-1 Biersma, E. M., Jackson, J. A., Stech, M., Griffiths, H., Linse, K., Convey, P. (2018b). Molecular data suggest long-term in situ Antarctic persistence within Antarctica’s most speciose plant genus, Schistidium. Front. Ecol. Evol. 6:77. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00077 Bond, W. J. (2015). Fires in the Cenozoic: a late flowering of flammable ecosystems. Front. Plant Sci. 5:749. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2014.00749 Convey, P., Gibson, J. A., Hillenbrand, C. D., Hodgson, D. A., Pugh, P. J., Smellie, J. L., et al. (2008). Antarctic terrestrial life - challenging the history of the frozen continent? Biol. Rev. Camb. Philos. Soc 83, 103–117. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-185X.2008.00034.x Convey, P., Bindschadler, R., Di Prisco, G., Fahrbach, E., Gutt, J., Hodgson, D. A., et al. (2009). Antarctic climate change and the environment. Antarct. Sci. 21, 541–563. doi: 10.1017/S0954102009990642 Convey, P., Biersma, E. M., Casanova-Katny, A., Maturana, C. S. (2020). “Refuges of Antarctic diversity,” in Past Antarctica. Eds. Oliva, M., Ruiz-Fernández, J. (Cambridge, MA: Academic Press), 181–200. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-817925-3.00010-0 Hansen, J., Sato, M., Russell, G., Kharecha, P. (2013). Climate sensitivity, sea level and atmospheric CO2. Philos. Trans. R. Soc A. 371, 20120294. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2012.0294 Kops, J., Hartsen, F. A., van Eeden, F. W. (1868). Flora Batava, of Afbeeldingen en Beschrijving van Nederlandsche gewassen. XIII Deel 13(Amsterdam, the Netherlands: J. C. Sepp en Zoon). McDaniel, S. F., Willis, J. H., Shaw, A. J. (2007). A linkage map reveals a complex basis for segregation distortion in an interpopulation cross in the moss Ceratodon purpureus. Genetics 176, 2489–2500. doi: 10.1534/genetics.107.075424 Pisa, S., Biersma, E. M., Convey, P., Patiño, J., Vanderpoorten, A., Werner, O., et al. (2014). The cosmopolitan moss Bryum argenteumin Antarctica: recent colonisation or in situ survival? Polar. Biol. 37, 1469–1477. doi: 10.1007/s00300-014-1537-3 Szövényi, P., Perroud, P. F., Symeonidi, A., Stevenson, S., Quatrano, R. S., Rensing, S. A., et al. (2014). De novo assembly and comparative analysis of the Ceratodon purpureus transcriptome. Mol. Ecol. Resour. 15, 203–215. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12284 This month's issue in Aktuel Naturvidenskab features a four-page article (in danish) on last January's trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, where we did a citizen science project with tourists (read more in a previous blog post). During this project, we measured soil-gas fluxes at guano-enriched areas along the Antarctic Peninsula at several different penguin colonies.
Download the article here: 
 Published this month we present a chapter on glacial refuges of Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity in the book "Past Antarctica: Paleoclimatology and Climate Change".
Biological research over the last decades has revealed that many of Antarctica's terrestrial biota are endemic to the continent, with nearly every group (invertebrates, microbes, plants) including species which show signals of Antarctic survival on multi-million-year timescales. Some species even show evidence that their Antarctic presence pre-dates the final breakup of Gondwana and the geographic isolation of Antarctica. For terrestrial life to have existed continuously on the continent over these timescales, appropriate ice-free land must have existed through the multiple glacial cycles that took place throughout the Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene eras. In the new chapter, we discuss the evolutionary history of terrestrial life in Antarctica, evidence from glacial reconstructions, as well as the requirement for refugia across all biogeographical regions of Antarctica. We also discuss the likely form that such refugia may have taken, from nunataks, geothermal areas, glacier surfaces, subglacial habitats and cryptobiosis. For more information see: Convey, P., Biersma, E.M., Casanova-Katny, A., Maturana, C.S. (2020) Chapter 13: Refuges of Antarctic Biodiversity. In: "Past Antarctica" (ed. J.R. Fernandez). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817925-3.00010-0 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341958687_Refuges_of_Antarctic_diversity Many microorganism species can be found all across the globe. Their seemingly global distributions have long caused a debate whether microorganisms can disperse very easily and geographic barriers have any effect on them, or whether it has taken them a long time to get everywhere. Trying to answer that question, a new large-scale genetic study in Nature Communications revealed how a single-celled alga has spread across the globe and in its journey radiated into an unprecedented species diversity since the Eocene/Oligocene global cooling period. In contrast to previous beliefs, it hereby shows that the evolution of microorganisms is highly driven by colonisation to suitable habitats and subsequent speciation in isolation. Although this has long been recognised as a driving force for speciation in larger organisms, it is now also shown to be an important force for speciation in microbial species. Microbial biogeography: putting the distribution of a global microbe on the map Many microbial species, i.e. protists, bacteria, archaea and fungi, often have very similar appearances in various corners of the globe. It is therefore generally thought that they lack the biogeographic structure and the clear speciation patterns found in larger organisms. Instead, their supposedly high dispersal rates and large population sizes have long led to the assumption that many microorganisms have global geographic distributions. To investigate this, Pinseel et al. (2020) studied the evolutionary history of a globally occurring terrestrial diatom species, Pinnularia borealis - a small type of single-celled algae living in terrestrial habitats such as soils and mosses. Sampling >1500 environmental samples across the globe containing >800 strains, the study looked into morphological and genetic analyses to study the species’ evolutionary history, and the timescale on which this small diatom managed to cover most of the planet’s far-flung corners of the globe.
The analyses, however, also suggested that, despite P. borealis being a small, microscopic algae, has been quite good at dispersing. For example, the analyses revealed that all continents had been colonised multiple independent times. In particular, it was surprising that the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic, though highly isolated places, were colonised at least eight independent times, and in several cases through long-distance dispersal from the Northern Hemisphere. Timing of species diversification and the transition to open terrestrial habitats Luckily, diatoms have a very good fossil record, and species diversity can be quite accurately calculated over time. Using fossil evidence and genetic dating techniques the radiation of the diatom across the globe was found to have originated since the Eocene/Oligocene boundary (25.0–36.1 million years ago). This period was characterised by a profound change in climate, as the Earth shifted from a greenhouse to an icehouse state, and known as a time of large-scale extinction and floral and faunal turnover. The period, associated with colder and drier climates, also marks the onset of a global expansion of open terrestrial landscapes, in which P. borealis currently thrives.  Time-calibrated species tree of the P. borealis complex. Coloured bars next to the phylogeny indicate the biogeographic region(s) of each species: dark blue: Arctic zone; light blue: boreal zone; purple North America (excl. Arctic); grey: Madagascar; pink: South America; orange: Australasia; yellow: sub-Antarctic; dark red: Antarctic. In the middle-left: species accumulation curve showing the sample-based interpolation (rarefaction) and extrapolation of the P. borealis species delimited in this study. Below: raw (blue) and smoothed (black) oxygen-isotope data reflecting changes in global temperature and continental ice-sheet volume, overlaid with a "lineage-through-time plot" (semi-logarithmic scale) of the P. borealis complex. How many times would one need to sample to get all extant diversity? Indeed, despite that over 1500 samples were obtained, the large global sampling effort was still not nearly enough to capture al the diversity within P. borealis. Extrapolation analyses, investigating how the number of species increases with the number of added samples, suggested that that nearly ten thousand environmental samples would need to be gathered all across the globe to find the majority of lineages of just this species complex alone. This means that, at that point one will likely have found most of the global diversity that exists within P. borealis, which was estimated to equal about 415 species. This species diversity far exceeded previous estimates for a diatom lineage of this age (since the Eocene/Oligocene boundary). The high diversity within this species complex alone reflects the likely hidden diversity of other groups of the ‘rare biosphere’. Implications for general understanding of drivers shaping microbial biogeography
All in all, the new study reveals how ‘rare biosphere’ taxa, which are key players in the global carbon and nutrient cycles, are composed of astonishingly high levels of diversity across the globe. It reveals, contrary to long-held views, how dispersal and subsequent evolution in isolation plays a large role in the evolution of small micro-organisms. The evolutionary history of this one, seemingly insignificant, microscopic algae, illuminates the hidden diversity within the world of small microscopic life, which we still know so little about. For more information see: Pinseel, E., Janssens, S.B., Verleyen, E., Vanormelingen, P., Kohler, T.J., Biersma, E.M., Sabbe, K., Van de Vijver, B. & Vyverman, W. (2020) Global radiation in a rare biosphere soil diatom. Nature Communications 11, 2382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16181-0  Antarctica's isolated and extreme terrestrial environments are inhabited by only two species of native vascular flora: the Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis (Caryophyllaceae) and the Antarctic hair grass Deschampsia antarctica (Poaceae). While many other groups of terrestrial biota (e.g. mites, springtails, mosses) include species with a long-term (million-year) survival and high endemism in Antarctica, the age and origin of both vascular plants was until now not yet thoroughly studied. A new paper in Journal of Biogeography on the Antarctic pearlwort C. quitensis (shown in Fig. 1), completing previous biogeographic assessments of the Antarctic hair grass, shows that the vascular flora of Antarctica is of likely late-Pleistocene origin. The vascular flora is hereby the first identified group of terrestrial organisms to be completely of recent arrival, with a likely origin after major glacial periods in Antartica.
The overall findings of multiple colonisation events by a vascular plant species to Antarctica, and the recent timing of these events, are of also significance with respect to future colonisations of the Antarctic by vascular plants, particularly with predicted increases in ice-free land in the Antarctic Peninsula. The results also suggest the Antarctic is less isolated for this species than previously thought.  Fig. 3. Genotype and haplotype networks of Colobanthus quitensis based on nuclear (a) and chloroplast (b, e, f) markers, and nuclear and chloroplast regions combined (c). Map (d) showing sample locations of the two Maritime Antarctic haplotype groups identified in (c) (indicated in with dashed ellipses). Colours of different biogeographic regions are shown in the key. Late-Pleistocene origin of vascular flora - a contrasting pattern to many other terrestrial biota During the Last Glacial Maximum, as well as during previous glaciation periods, almost the entire continent of Antarctica is thought to have been covered by ice. The general assumption has therefore long been that basically no terrestrial life could have persisted in Antarctica throughout this time, and all life must be of recent (post-glacial) origin. Recent biological research has challenged this view, revealing many examples of species with long-term pre-glacial persistence, suggesting that life must have persisted throughout previous glaciation periods in the Antarctic. Evidence can be found in almost every group of terrestrial organisms (e.g. nematode worms, diatoms, springtails, insects, mosses etc), with timespans of isolation in Antarctica ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of years. Some groups even show ages of isolation since the break-up of ‘Gondwana’, where Antarctica broke off from the other Southern Hemisphere continents. Antarctica only continent with a recent (thousand year-scale) vascular flora In the new study on the cushion plant Colobanthus quitensis we find that the Antarctic populations of the species likely derived from two independent, late-Pleistocene dispersal events. Adding to previous inferences on the other Antarctic vascular plant species (a grass called Deschampsia antarctica), we suggest that both vascular plant species are likely to have arrived on a recent (late-Pleistocene) timescale. Contrary to the other groups of terrestrial biota, the vascular flora stands out as the first identified terrestrial group that appears to be entirely of recent origin.  Fig. 4. The two native Antarctic vascular plants, Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica, growing on Lagotellerie Island, Antarctica
For more information see: Biersma, E.M., Torres-Díaz, C., Molina-Montenegro, M.A., Newsham, K.K., Vidal, M.A., Collado G.A., Acuña-Rodríguez, I.S., Ballesteros, G., Figueroa, C.C., Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Leppe, M.A., Cuba-Díaz, M., Valladares, M.A., Pertierra, L.R. & Convey, P. (2020) Multiple post-glacial colonisation events of the Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis (Caryophyllaceae) reveal the recent arrival of native Antarctic vascular flora. Journal of Biogeography
Different from previous fieldwork, this year Bo Elberling, his daughter and I joined a tourist ship (Albatros Expeditions). We took samples and measurements at each penguin colony, while giving guests hands-on experience on how scientific studies are conducted and how data are collected in the field (citizen science). It was a great success, and we got measurements done at all three common penguin colonies at the Antarctic Peninsula (Gentoo, Adelie and Chinstrap penguins). We also gave several presentations onboard the ship on topics related to climate change, marine and terrestrial biology, conservation and biogeography with a specific focus on the polar regions, which led to engaging discussions and interactions with the guests.  Bo Elberling and his daughter taking gas samples at the Gentoo penguin colony at Port Lockroy
A new paper revealed the combined effects of glacial retreat and fertilisation by King Penguins on soil greenhouse gas fluxes on the soil succession at St. Andrews Bay, South Georgia; the largest King Penguin colony in the world (~150,000 breeding pairs). The production and consumption of three greenhouse gasses (CO2, CH4 and N2O) were assessed based on laboratory incubations of soil cores, as well as incubation experiments with added nutrients and water. We found that soils located at a greater distance from the retreating glacier front showed a successive development, with expanding vegetation cover and increasing soil nutrient content, coinciding with increased CO2 production and CH4 consumption rates. Towards sites with an increase in penguin activity and guano deposition, the CO2 production increased by 4–16-fold while the CH4 consumption decreased by about half. N2O production rates were not affected by exposure time since glacial retreat, but increased markedly (approximately 120-fold) at the site with the highest penguin activity. Along the transect, labile C and moisture were considered the key limiting factors for CO2 production, while moisture likely explain the limitation of CH4 consumption.
  This last part of August was spent on fieldwork in the region of Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) in western Greenland to sample plants for my future postdoctoral project on finding out more on the evolutionary history of the Greenlandic flora. The aim of this project is to study the routes and timings of floral colonisation into and within Greenland to place Arctic floral biogeography more firmly into the contexts of the northern landmasses and the glaciation history of Greenland itself. In addition, I hope to gain a better understanding of speciation processes of plants in polar regions (e.g. effects of past climate, bottlenecks, asexual reproduction, polyploidy and hybridisation). For this project I will use a combination of fresh and herbarium material, combined with population genetic and molecular dating methods. The project will be based at the Natural History Museum of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen, and is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. The project will start part-time and in the meanwhile I will continue to work at the British Antarctic Survey as well.
   Small plastic plates to study the effects of shelter (e.g. by a large species of invasive vascular plant) on the native flora. This December I joined Stef Bokhorst for a fieldwork trip in Navarino Island in the Cape Horn region in southern Chile, to study the effect of invasive species in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic. We set up several sets of long-term experiments on the mountain top near Puerto Williams, as this experimental side showed a lot of similarities with the type of fellfield habitat you can find in many parts of the Maritime Antarctic. The experiments were designed to study the effect of new species on the growth of the native Antarctic flora, as well as disentangling possible elements which may be of importance to future establisment of invasive species, e.g. the effects of water-retention in the native species on the establishment of new species, or what species may enhance or inhibit each others presence. It was a busy but productive trip, and great to be back in the beautiful Beagle Channel area! Many thanks to Stef for inviting me to be part of this fieldwork, and thanks to Tamara Contador, Roy Mackenzie and others from the Puerto Williams Biological Field Station for help with the work! |
Hi! I am Elise Biersma, an evolutionary biologist studying polar plants and microbes.Archives
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