@article {4833, title = {Ecological stoichiometry drives the evolution of soil nematode life history traits}, journal = {Soil Biology and Biochemistry}, volume = {177}, year = {2023}, month = {02/2023}, pages = {108891}, abstract = {

Ecological stoichiometry is a useful theoretical framework for understanding the sources and controls on nutrient availability that structure the composition and diversity of biotic communities. One such relationship is that organismal development rate is positively linked to cellular Phosphorus (P). We hypothesized that P availability, relative to other nutrients, e.g., nitrogen and carbon, would drive the evolution of traits associated with organismal growth and development. We examined the effects of P availability both in situ and in vitro, on free-living soil nematodes. We found that P-deficient environments produce predictable changes in the ecology and evolution of important life history traits. Our results identify altered rRNA gene copy number and subsequent changes in gene expression and protein synthesis as mechanisms by which P-deficiency influences these traits. These findings have important implications for explaining soil ecological and evolutionary patterns across multiple levels of organization, including the structure and functioning of organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, elemental stoichiometry, growth rate hypothesis, life history theory, molecular evolution, nematoda, rRNA}, doi = {10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108891}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038071722003480}, author = {Xue, Xia and Bishwo N. Adhikari and Ball, Becky and John E. Barrett and Miao, Jinxin and Perkes, Ammon and Martin, Mac and Breana L. Simmons and Diana H. Wall and Byron Adams} } @article {4718, title = {Elevational constraints on the composition and genomic attributes of microbial communities in Antarctic soils}, journal = {mSystems}, volume = {7}, year = {2022}, month = {01/2022}, pages = {e01330-21}, abstract = {

The inland soils found on the Antarctic continent represent one of the more challenging environments for microbial life on Earth. Nevertheless, Antarctic soils harbor unique bacterial and archaeal (prokaryotic) communities able to cope with extremely cold and dry conditions. These communities are not homogeneous, and the taxonomic composition and functional capabilities (genomic attributes) of these communities across environmental gradients remain largely undetermined. We analyzed the prokaryotic communities in soil samples collected from across the Shackleton Glacier region of Antarctica by coupling quantitative PCR, marker gene amplicon sequencing, and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. We found that elevation was the dominant factor explaining differences in the structures of the soil prokaryotic communities, with the drier and saltier soils found at higher elevations harboring less diverse communities and unique assemblages of cooccurring taxa. The higher-elevation soil communities also had lower maximum potential growth rates (as inferred from metagenome-based estimates of codon usage bias) and an overrepresentation of genes associated with trace gas metabolism. Together, these results highlight the utility of assessing community shifts across pronounced environmental gradients to improve our understanding of the microbial diversity found in Antarctic soils and the strategies used by soil microbes to persist at the limits of habitability.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, microbial ecology, soil microbiology, soils}, doi = {10.1128/msystems.01330-21}, url = {https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/msystems.01330-21}, author = {Dragone, Nicholas B. and Henley, Jessica B. and Holland-Moritz, Hannah and Melisa A. Diaz and Hogg, Ian D. and W. Berry Lyons and Diana H. Wall and Byron Adams and Noah Fierer}, editor = {Mackelprang, Rachel} } @article {4636, title = {Exploring the boundaries of microbial habitability in soil}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences}, volume = {126}, year = {2021}, month = {06/2021}, abstract = {

Microbes are widely assumed to be capable of colonizing even the most challenging terrestrial surface environments on Earth given enough time. We would not expect to find surface soils uninhabited by microbes as soils typically harbor diverse microbial communities and viable microbes have been detected in soils exposed to even the most inhospitable conditions. However, if uninhabited soils do exist, we might expect to find them in Antarctica. We analyzed 204 ice-free soils collected from across a remote valley in the Transantarctic Mountains (84\–85\°S, 174\–177\°W) and were able to identify a potential limit of microbial habitability. While most of the soils we tested contained diverse microbial communities, with fungi being particularly ubiquitous, microbes could not be detected in many of the driest, higher elevation soils\—results that were confirmed using cultivation-dependent, cultivation-independent, and metabolic assays. While we cannot confirm that this subset of soils is completely sterile and devoid of microbial life, our results suggest that microbial life is severely restricted in the coldest, driest, and saltiest Antarctic soils. Constant exposure to these conditions for thousands of years has limited microbial communities so that their presence and activity is below detectable limits using a variety of standard methods. Such soils are unlikely to be unique to the studied region with this work supporting previous hypotheses that microbial habitability is constrained by near-continuous exposure to cold, dry, and salty conditions, establishing the environmental conditions that limit microbial life in terrestrial surface soils.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, astrobiology, bacteria, extremophiles, fungi, soils}, issn = {2169-8953}, doi = {10.1029/2020JG006052}, url = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020JG006052}, author = {Dragone, Nicholas B. and Melisa A. Diaz and Hogg, Ian D. and W. Berry Lyons and W. Andrew Jackson and Diana H. Wall and Adams, Byron J. and Noah Fierer} } @article {3218, title = {Ecological Biogeography of the Terrestrial Nematodes~of Victoria Land, Antarctica}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {419}, year = {2014}, month = {06/2015}, pages = {29 - 71}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, issn = {1313-2989}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.419.7180}, url = {http://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=3899}, author = {Byron Adams and Diana H. Wall and Ross A. Virginia and Broos, Emma and Matthew Knox} } @article {1122, title = {The ecology of pulse events: insights from an extreme climatic event in a polar desert ecosystem}, journal = {Ecosphere}, volume = {3}, year = {2012}, month = {02/2012}, pages = {art17}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1890/ES11-00325.1}, url = {http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/ES11-00325.1}, author = {Uffe N. Nielsen and Diana H. Wall and Byron Adams and Ross A. Virginia and Ball, Becky and Michael N. Gooseff and Diane M. McKnight} } @article {1116, title = {Extreme streams: flow intermittency as a control on diatom communities in meltwater streams in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, journal = {Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences}, volume = {69}, year = {2012}, month = {08/2012}, pages = {1405 - 1419}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1139/f2012-022}, url = {http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/f2012-022$\#$.UH2NlWcnq9g}, author = {Lee F. Stanish and Tyler J. Kohler and Rhea M.M. Esposito and Breana L. Simmons and Uffe N. Nielsen and Diana H. Wall and Diana R. Nemergut and Diane M. McKnight} } @article {1163, title = {Effect of slow desiccation and freezing on gene transcription and stress survival of an Antarctic nematode}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Biology}, volume = {213}, year = {2010}, month = {06/2010}, pages = {1803 - 1812}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1242/jeb.032268}, author = {Bishwo N. Adhikari and Diana H. Wall and Byron Adams} } @article {1147, title = {Experimentally increased snow accumulation alters soil moisture and animal community structure in a polar desert}, journal = {Polar Biology}, volume = {33}, year = {2010}, month = {7/2010}, pages = {897 - 907}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1007/s00300-010-0766-3}, author = {Edward Ayres and Johnson N. Nkem and Diana H. Wall and Byron Adams and John E. Barrett and Breana L. Simmons and Ross A. Virginia and Andrew G Fountain} } @article {1211, title = {Effects of Human Trampling on Populations of Soil Fauna in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.}, journal = {Conservation Biology}, volume = {22}, year = {2008}, month = {12/2008}, pages = {1544-1551}, abstract = {

Antarctic ecosystems are often considered nearly pristine because levels of anthropogenic disturbance are extremely low there. Nevertheless, over recent decades there has been a rapid increase in the number of people, researchers and tourists, visiting Antarctica. We evaluated, over 10 years, the direct impact of foot traffic on the abundance of soil animals and soil properties in Taylor Valley within the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. We compared soils from minimally disturbed areas with soils from nearby paths that received intermediate and high levels of human foot traffic (i.e., up to approximately 80 passes per year). The nematodes Scottnema lindsayae and Eudorylaimus sp. were the most commonly found animal species, whereas rotifers and tardigrades were found only occasionally. On the highly trampled footpaths, abundance of S. lindsayae and Eudorylaimus sp. was up to 52 and 76\% lower, respectively, than in untrampled areas. Moreover, reduction in S. lindsayae abundance was more pronounced after 10 years than 2 years and in the surface soil than in the deeper soil, presumably because of the longer period of disturbance and the greater level of physical disturbance experienced by the surface soil. The ratio of living to dead Eudorylaimus sp. also declined with increased trampling intensity, which is indicative of increased mortality or reduced fecundity. At one site there was evidence that high levels of trampling reduced soil CO2 fluxes, which is related to total biological activity in the soil. Our results show that even low levels of human traffic can significantly affect soil biota in this ecosystem and may alter ecosystem processes, such as carbon cycling. Consequently, management and conservation plans for Antarctic soils should consider the high sensitivity of soil fauna to physical disturbance as human presence in this ecosystem increases.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01034.x}, author = {Edward Ayres and Johnson N. Nkem and Diana H. Wall and Byron Adams and John E. Barrett and Broos, E and Andrew N. Parsons and Powers, Laura E. and Breana L. Simmons and Ross A. Virginia} } @article {1351, title = {Ecological linkages between aboveground and belowground biota.}, journal = {Science}, volume = {304}, year = {2004}, pages = {1629-1633}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {LTER}, author = {Wardle, D and Richard D. Bardgett and Klironomos, J and Setala, H and van der Putten, W and Diana H. Wall} }