Investigation of the effect of elevation and topography on soil biota and soil properties was part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. The number of soil organisms (nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades), divided by species, sex and maturity was monitored at 3 elevations, initially in Taylor Valley (1993) then Garwood and Miers Valleys (2012) in order to accomplish this.
Dataset Results
Increases in soil temperature and moisture may change the bioavailability of essential elements by altering solubility and diffusion rates in soils, or by changing the amounts of organic compounds. Long-term experiments in the Bonney, Hoare and Fryxell basins have been established with 3 treatments: 1) increased moisture, 2) soil warming (ITEX chambers), and 3) soil warming + increased moisture. The identification and abundance of soil biota are reported.
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Climate warming in polar regions is associated with thawing of permafrost, resulting in significant changes in soil hydrology, biogeochemical cycling, and in the activity and composition of soil communities. While ongoing, directional climate warming can elicit such responses over decadal time scales, their manifestation typically occurs as discrete thawing pulses. Indeed, in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica abrupt changes in community structure and biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems following a summer warming event (Jan.
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This data package includes the abundance of microbial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for samples collected during the austral summer of 2012-2013 in the Lake Hoare and Goldman Glacier Basins of Taylor Valley, Antarctica. A total of twenty samples from on- and off-water track soils were collected and analyzed. Samples were collected from the Lake Hoare Basin on 27 December 2012 and from the Goldman Glacier Basin on 4 January 2013.
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Populations of Plectus murrayi, a mesophilic nematode, have been increasing in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica over the past three decades. In contrast, most other Antarctic nematode species, including Scottnema lindsayae, have experienced constant population declines over the same time period due to climate change related increases in summer temperatures and wetting occurrences. To determine why P.
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Elemental stoichiometry is a useful theoretical framework for understanding the sources and controls on nutrient availability that can structure the composition, diversity, and life history of biotic communities. One such relationship, as postulated by the growth rate hypothesis (GRH), is that organismal development rate is positively linked to cellular phosphorus (P).
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A study was conducted to examine soil microbial communities and associated geochemical parameters at potential glacial refugia and glaciated control sites throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Soil samples were collected as part of ongoing long-term monitoring efforts by the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program (MCM LTER). The oldest samples used in this study were collected during the 1993-1994 austral summer, and the newest from the 2018-2019 austral summer.
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During the 2017-2018 austral summer, a survey of soil invertebrate diversity and abundance was conducted throughout the Shackleton Glacier region of Antarctica to investigate whether habitat suitability, taxonomic diversity, and community composition follow predictable temporal patterns after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Soil samples were collected along elevation transects from twelve ice-free areas to capture maximum variation in soil properties, geochemistry, and surface exposure age.
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To evaluate the role of Antarctic aeolian transport in surface chemistry homogenization, fifty-three samples of aeolian material from the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica were collected and analyzed for water-soluble major ions and nutrients at a 1:5 sediment:water ratio. Samples were collected seasonally from Alatna Valley, Victoria Valley, Miers Valley, and Taylor Valley (Taylor Glacier, East Lake Bonney, F6 (Lake Fryxell), and Explorer’s Cove) at five heights (~5, 10, 20, 50, 100 cm) above the surface between 2013 and 2015.
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As part of an ongoing long-term sampling effort conducted by the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, the top 10 cm of soil was collected from sampling sites across the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. A subset of these samples representing each valley and a differing disturbance legacy from the last glacial maximum were analyzed for this data package. Samples were collected between 1995 and 2022.
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This data package includes ecological parameters of biocrust and soil from samples collected in-situ within the Lake Fryxell Basin of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica during December of 2019. Parameters include biological (ash-free dry mass, pigment concentration, and counts of soil invertebrates), physical (water content, electrical conductivity, and pH), and chemical properties (inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorous, total nitrogen, and total organic carbon) of the surface soil, biocrust, and underlying soil.
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This data package includes biophysicochemical properties of biocrust and soil samples collected in-situ within the Lake Fryxell basin of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica during December 2022 at 64 different terrestrial locations. These parameters include biological (ash-free dry mass, pigment concentration, soil invertebrate counts), physical (gravimetric water content, electrical conductivity, pH), and chemical (inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorous, total nitrogen, soil organic carbon) properties of the surface soil, biocrust, and underlying soil.