11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
[MIS15-P08] A study on colored snow and snow algae from Mt. Echigokomagatake
Keywords:Mt. Echigokomagatake, Colored snow, Snow algae
Snow algae are photosynthetic microorganisms growing on the surface of glaciers and snow packs. When snow algae bloom on glaciers and snow packs, the surface is colored with red or green due to pigments in the algal cells. This phenomenon of colored snow has been reported widely in mountainous regions of Japan. In general, green snow appears in the forest zone while red snow appears in the alpine zone. Both of these colored snow contains several species of algae. In this study, we analyzed the morphology, cell concentration, community structure, and pigment composition of snow algae and soluble chemical compositions in the snow samples collected from a snow pack of Mt. Echigokomagatake located in the middle of Honshu main island of Japan. In late June of 2021, we investigated a snow packs near the top of Mt. Echigokomagatake at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. Red and green colored snow surfaces were observed on the snow pack. Microscopic observation of the snow samples showed that it mainly contained nine types of algal cells (types A-I) with different morphologies. Most of the algal cell types appeared to be similar to those previously reported in Japan except the algal cell type of orange oval cells (type C). The algal community structure of the samples could be divided into four distinct types. The difference of the community structure may be due to distance from vegetation around the snow pack, nutrient conditions of the snow, and/or growth period of the algae. Compared with colored snow in other regions of Japan, the algal biomass in Mt. Echigokomagatake was comparable to those of other regions, and the community structure corresponded with those of red snow in the alpine zone. However, algal communities dominated by type C algal cells have not been reported from other regions, suggesting that this type is endemic to Mt. Echigokomagatake.