Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 29 February 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5867, p. 1214
DOI: 10.1126/science.1149757
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Brevia

Ubiquity of Biological Ice Nucleators in Snowfall

Brent C. Christner,1* Cindy E. Morris,2 Christine M. Foreman,3 Rongman Cai,1 David C. Sands4

Despite the integral role of ice nucleators (IN) in atmospheric processes leading to precipitation, their sources and distributions have not been well established. We examined IN in snowfall from mid- and high-latitude locations and found that the most active were biological in origin. Of the IN larger than 0.2 micrometer that were active at temperatures warmer than -7°C, 69 to 100% were biological, and a substantial fraction were bacteria. Our results indicate that the biosphere is a source of highly active IN and suggest that these biological particles may affect the precipitation cycle and/or their own precipitation during atmospheric transport.

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
2 L'Institut Nationale de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité de Pathologie Végétale UR407, F-84140 Montfavet, France.
3 Center for Biofilm Engineering and Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
4 Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: xner{at}lsu.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Geographic, seasonal, and precipitation chemistry influence on the abundance and activity of biological ice nucleators in rain and snow.
B. C. Christner, R. Cai, C. E. Morris, K. S. McCarter, C. M. Foreman, M. L. Skidmore, S. N. Montross, and D. C. Sands (2008)
PNAS 105, 18854-18859
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mineral evolution.
R. M. Hazen, D. Papineau, W. Bleeker, R. T. Downs, J. M. Ferry, T. J. McCoy, D. A. Sverjensky, and H. Yang (2008)
American Mineralogist 93, 1693-1720
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)