Context
In this study we document atmospheric microbial abundance and community composition with new molecular methods combined with traditional culture-dependent methods to gain an understanding of the incoming aerial microbial fraction to various “inner alpine” and polar locations. The focus lies on glacial environments where atmospheric depositions are checked in the ice by ice core analysis.
To assess the effect of an altitude gradient, rural vs. urban locations are compared. Coriolis μ was used to have air samples for molecular analysis whereas Sartorius MD8 was used for traditional culture methods.
