@article {4644, title = {From the Heroic Age to today: What diatoms from Shackleton{\textquoteright}s Nimrod expedition can tell us about the ecological trajectory of Antarctic ponds}, journal = {Limnology and Oceanography Letters}, year = {2021}, month = {07/2021}, abstract = {

Biological invasion and environmental change pose major threats to ecosystems. While long-term ecological change is commonly evaluated through sediment cores in lakes, it is generally not feasible for smaller ponds, and spatial resolution is limited. Here, we analyze pond diatom communities collected during Shackleton\&$\#$39;s Nimrod expedition at Cape Royds, Antarctica, to compare with the same waterbodies a century later. We find historical samples to be almost identical to modern counterparts, and provide no evidence of exotic introductions despite increasing human activity. However, a shift occurred in the pond nearest Shackleton\&$\#$39;s hut, Pony Lake, which was dominated by Luticola muticopsis a century ago, and was replaced by Craspedostauros laevissimus. Both are endemic species previously and currently present at Cape Royds, and we hypothesize that a shift in conductivity accompanying changing precipitation patterns may be responsible. Collectively, these results provide important data for assessing human and climate impacts among Antarctic lacustrine habitats.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, issn = {2378-2242}, doi = {10.1002/lol2.10200}, url = {https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lol2.10200}, author = {Tyler J. Kohler and Howkins, Adrian and Eric R. Sokol and Kopalov{\'a}, Kate{\v r}ina and Cox, Aneliya and Darling, Joshua P. and Michael N. Gooseff and Diane M. McKnight} } @article {4064, title = {Freshwater diatom biogeography and the genus Luticola: an extreme case of endemism in Antarctica}, journal = {Polar Biology}, volume = {40}, year = {2017}, month = {03/2017}, pages = {1185-1196}, abstract = {

Historical views have characterized Antarctica as a frozen desert with low diversity, although recent studies suggest that this may not be true for microscopic organisms. For microbes, assessing endemism in the Antarctic region has been particularly important, especially against a backdrop of debate regarding their presumed cosmopolitan nature. To contribute to this conversation, we highlight the observed endemism of the freshwater diatom genus Luti- cola in Antarctica by synthesizing the results of a modern high-resolution taxonomy from the Continental, Maritime, and sub-Antarctic regions. We report that Luticola has one of the highest endemic rates of any diatom genus in Antarctica, in terms of total number of species (taxon endemism) and percentage of the entire genus (phylogenetic endemism). Of the over 200 species of Luticola globally, nearly 20\% (43) occur in the Antarctic, with 42 of these being endemic. Within regions, Maritime Antarctica has the largest number of Luticola species and endemics (28 and 23, respectively), followed by Continental Antarctica (14, 9) and sub-Antarctic islands (8, 6). Thus, 38 of the 42 endemics are found in a single region only. While the timing of Luticola diversi cation has not been established, fossil evidence suggests recent invasions and/or diversi cation over a relatively short geologic timescale. Understanding the origin and evolution of endemic diatom species in Antarctica will help us better understand microbial biogeography, as well as assess and interpret impacts of large-scale environmental change taking place at southern latitudes.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, issn = {0722-4060}, doi = {10.1007/s00300-017-2090-7}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-017-2090-7}, author = {J. Patrick Kociolek and Kopalova, K and Hamsher, S. E. and Tyler J. Kohler and Bart Van de Vijver and Convey, Peter and Diane M. McKnight} }