@article {4989,
	title = {Response of a terrestrial polar ecosystem to the March 2022 Antarctic weather anomaly},
	journal = {Earth{\textquoteright}s Future},
	volume = {12},
	year = {2024},
	month = {08/2024},
	pages = {e2023EF004306},
	abstract = {<p>Record high temperatures were documented in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, on 18 March 2022, exceeding average temperatures for that day by nearly 30\&deg;C. Satellite imagery and stream gage measurements indicate that surface wetting coincided with this warming more than 2 months after peak summer thaw and likely exceeded thresholds for rehydration and activation of resident organisms that typically survive the cold and dry conditions of the polar fall in a freeze-dried state. This weather event is notable in both the timing and magnitude of the warming and wetting when temperatures exceeded 0\&deg;C at a time when biological communities and streams have typically entered a persistent frozen state. Such events may be a harbinger of future climate conditions characterized by warmer temperatures and greater thaw in this region of Antarctica, which could influence the distribution, activity, and abundance of sentinel taxa. Here we describe the ecosystem responses to this weather anomaly reporting on meteorological and hydrological measurements across the region and on later biological observations from Canada Stream, one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems within the McMurdo Dry Valleys.</p>},
	keywords = {LTER-MCM, atmospheric river, climate variability, extreme weather, polar desert, soil biota},
	issn = {2328-4277},
	doi = {10.1029/2023EF004306},
	url = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023EF004306},
	author = {John E. Barrett and Adams, Byron J. and Doran, Peter T. and Hilary A. Dugan and Myers, Krista F. and Salvatore, Mark R. and Power, Sarah N. and Snyder, Meredith D. and Wright, Anna T. and Michael N. Gooseff}
}
@mastersthesis {4863,
	title = {Influence of landscape-variation in geochemistry on taxonomic and functional composition of microbial mat communities in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica},
	volume = {M.S.},
	year = {2023},
	school = {Virginia Tech},
	type = {masters},
	address = {Blacksburg, VA},
	abstract = {<p>Microbial communities play critical roles in biogeochemical cycles of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, but studies of soil microbial communities have been limited by the diversity and complexity found in most ecosystems. Here we report on work investigating the functional diversity of microbial mat and underlying soil communities in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica across a gradient of phosphorus availability on glacial tills of distinct age and mineral composition in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Microbial mat and soil DNA were extracted and sequenced on an Illumina NextSeq500 in a 150 bp paired end format. Raw sequences were uploaded to the MG-RAST server for processing and annotation. Community taxonomic and functional annotation were determined using the RefSeq and SEED Subsystem databases, respectively. The results revealed significant variation in microbial mat community taxonomic composition between the two tills, strongly associated with visual assessment of mat morphology, e.g., \&quot;black\&quot; and \&quot;orange\&quot; mats, and soil N:P ratios. The underlying soil microbial communities did not exhibit significant differences in diversity between the two tills, but community composition varied significantly across gradients of soil chemistry, particularly extractable-phosphate content even within tills. The relative abundance of biogeochemistry-relevant pathways determined from the SEED database varied amongst soil microbial communities between the two tills. For example, microbial mat communities exhibited significant variation in the relative abundance of key nitrogen and phosphorus metabolism associated genes strongly associated with the underlying soil N:P. These results suggest that spatial variation in geochemistry influences the distribution and activity of microbial mats, but that the microbial mats themselves also exert a significant homogenizing effect on the underlying soil communities and some of the key biogeochemical processes they facilitate.</p>},
	keywords = {LTER-MCM, carbon, microbial community, microbial mat, nitrogen, phosphorus, polar desert, soil},
	url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10919/115384},
	author = {Risteca, Paul J.},
	editor = {John E. Barrett}
}
