Seasonal observation of active later bacterial communities in Ny Alesund, Svalbard

The permafrost in the polar regions is vital for maintaining the status quo of the earth's climate by limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The top layer of permafrost that seasonally thaws during summer is called active layer (AL) permafrost. This study was carried out to understand the seasonal variations in bacterial diversity and communities of AL samples. The AL samples were collected from four different sites during winter and summer in Ny Alesund, Svalbard. Metagenomic DNA was isolated from AL samples and 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing targeting the V3 V4 region was carried out. Taxa abundance variation even at higher taxonomic levels was observed between seasons. The bacterial richness and diversity index were not significantly different between the winter and summer seasons. TN explained 25 % of bacterial community variation between seasons.