As part of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, a systematic sampling program has been undertaken to monitor the glacial meltwater streams in that region. This dataset contains microbial biomass concentrations found in algal mats located in streams throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys as well as in ponds of the nearby Cape Royds. Microbial mat biomass has been collected as part of the McMurdo LTER since the 1993-1994 field season and measured as ash-free dry mass (AFDM) and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a).
Dataset Results
We performed a field survey to assess changes in biomass, nutrient ratios, and isotopic signatures of three different microbial mat types in two glacial meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Samples were taken in January 2013 from pre-existing transects over Von Guerard Stream and the Relict Channel, and stretched from near the Von Guerard Glacier terminus to the stream outlets at Lake Fryxell.
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Long-term ecological field surveys from the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program (MCM LTER) have documented the abundance and diversity of microbial mat types across ephemeral glacial meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. However, field surveys are limited and are incapable of being performed across the entirety of streams within a field season.
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An intensive field campaign was conducted during the 2018-2019 austral summer to assess spectral and biological characteristics of multiple microbial mat types, as well as mosses, across nine ephemeral glacial meltwater streams in the Fryxell Basin of Taylor Valley, located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica.