During August 1995 sites at Levinson-Lessing Lake (Taimyr Peninsula) and at Severnaya Zemlya were visited for soil microbiological investigations in relation to environmental properties. The environment at Levinson-Lessing Lake shows a great variety of different biotopes, starting with wet tundra up to barren soils on fjells. Samples wee taken from different types of soils and vegetation for studies of the botanical and microbiological inventory (algae, fungi, cyanobacteria, bacteria) by microscopical analysis. The places at Severnaya Zemlya can be described as Polar Deserts, although higher plants, mosses and lichens can be found at nearly all places. However, plant distribution is more patchy and differs significantly from stands at the Taimyr Peninsula. Mats of grasses or other higher plants are very rare and vegetation cover shows the characteristic of opportunistic growth, related to special environmental properties such as depressions or ridges. The most denude area was found at Komsomolsk Island north of the Akademik Nauk Glacier. Sites in this environment can be regarded as biological young biotopes in contrast to those mature environments at Taimyr. Relationships between plants and microbes show the establishment of biocoenoses especially in the root systems of different vascular plants. The harsh environment acts as an inhibitor for complete degradation of organic matter and leads to accumulations of particulate matter underneath cushions of higher plants (e.g., Saxifraga oppositifolia, novosieversia glacialis) where nearly non-humified material can be found. Such microenvironments may provide model systems for studies of degradation and accumulation processes in polar landscapes. Barren soils show primary steps in microbiologically initiated formations of soil crusts which become niches for mosses or vascular plants. The results of this study will be discussed in relation to soil properties and contents of soil organic matter.

Dr. Manfred Bolter,
Institut fur Polarokologie, Univ. Kiel,
Wischhofstr. 1-3
D-24148 Kiel, Germany
Tel:  + 49 431 72087-49
FAX:  + 49 431 72087-20