Clouds as habitat and seeders of active bacteria

Birgit Sattler; Hans Puxbaum; Andreas Limbeck; Roland Psenner

doi:10.1117/12.454760

5 February 2002 Clouds as habitat and seeders of active bacteria

Birgit Sattler, Hans Puxbaum, Andreas Limbeck, Roland Psenner

Proceedings Volume 4495, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology IV; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.454760
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2001, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

Transformation of organic and inorganic material in the atmosphere has been presumed to be caused by physical and chemical processes in the gas phase and in aerosol particles. Here we show that bacterial metabolism can play a measurable role in the production and transformation of organic carbon in cloud droplets collected at high altitudes, even at temperatures at or well below 0 degree(s)C. Although bacterial abundance and biomass in cloud water is low, compared to other oligotrophic aquatic environments, growth and carbon production rates per cell are approximately as high as in aquatic ecosystems. We hypothesize that microorganisms could play a crucial role in the transformation of airborne organic matter and the chemical composition of snow and rain. It has been recognized, the microbes can act as cloud condensation nuclei but we consider the impact on the global climate as low. With an increasing trend in cloudiness cloud systems can be seen as an ecosystem for active microbes with a seeding effort both for aquatic and terrestrial realms. Furthermore, air currents can distribute microbes over long distances to remote areas e.g. like ice caps and snow fields.

Citation Download Citation

Birgit Sattler, Hans Puxbaum, Andreas Limbeck, and Roland Psenner "Clouds as habitat and seeders of active bacteria", Proc. SPIE 4495, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology IV, (5 February 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.454760

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