text: GRISMEME | Isaaffik
  GRISMEME
  Greenland Ice Sheet surface as a model ecosystem for microbial macroecology
  http://www.cryoeco.eu/research
  Geolocation is 67.205717718953, -45.268410311248
  Project goal: To test macroecological hypotheses concerning microbial assembly rules, taxa-abundance distribution, geographical distance decay in community similarity, and spatial patterns of phylogenetic vs. ecological groups using data on microbial community from the Greenland ice sheet surface.
  Fieldwork: Collection of nearly 400 samples distributed among 22 landing sites in the Greenland ice sheet ablation zone between Nuuk and Ilulissat during the peak summer in as narrow as possible time-frame.
  Ecological processes at large scales are studied in complex ecosystems that are shaped by multiple factors at various scales. Moreover, many fundamental (macro)ecological questions become difficult when applied to microorganisms, due to the complexity and dynamics of their communities. As a result, microbial macroecology is still in its infancy. Here we propose research that overcomes these problems by using a simple model ecosystem – the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). The principal aims of the project are to gather a unique microbial community data set from the surface of the GrIS and to use this data set to test key macroecological hypotheses concerning assembly rules of microbial communities and spatial patterns in the distribution and diversity of phylogenetic vs. functional groups of microorganisms at different taxonomical levels. We expect this research will bring novel insights into two fields of ecology – macroecology and microbial ecology – by combining the expertise and methodologies of both disciplines.