Microbial diversity in biofilms under perennial ice in Ward Hunt Lake, Nunavut

To assess the microbial diversity in newly discovered thick biofilms growing at the bottom of Ward Hunt Lake at 10m depth. This region of the lake has a perennial ice cover which is facing the threats from climate warming. This might in turn alter the structure of the microbial community of the lake, including the biofilm community which has never been studied before and which plays a key role in contributing to the productivity of the lake. This project is part of the Northern Ellesmere Island in the Global Environment (NEIGE) programme.本研究旨在评估沃德亨特湖（Ward Hunt Lake）10米水深湖底新近发现的厚层生物膜中的微生物多样性。该湖区常年被冰盖覆盖，正面临气候变暖带来的威胁。气候变暖或反过来改变该湖泊的微生物群落结构，其中包括此前从未被研究过的生物膜群落——该群落对湖泊生产力的形成具有关键贡献。本项目隶属于全球环境中的埃尔斯米尔岛北部（Northern Ellesmere Island in the Global Environment, NEIGE）研究计划。