@article {5008, title = {A comprehensive survey of soil microbial diversity across the Antarctic continent}, journal = {Polar Biology}, volume = {48}, year = {2025}, month = {02/2025}, abstract = {

Antarctic soils are unique from those found nearly anywhere else on Earth yet can still harbor a broad diversity of microorganisms able to tolerate the challenging conditions typical of the continent. For these reasons, microbiologists have been drawn to Antarctica for decades. However, our understanding of which microbes thrive in Antarctic soils and how they to do so remains limited. To help resolve these knowledge gaps, we analyzed a collection of 200 archived Antarctic soils\—from Livingston Island on the Antarctic Peninsula to Cape Hallett in northern Victoria Land. We analyzed the prokaryotic and fungal communities in these soils using both cultivation-independent marker gene sequencing and cultivation-dependent approaches (microbial isolation), paired with extensive soil geochemical analyses. Our cultivation-independent analyses indicate that colder, saltier, and drier soils harbor less diverse communities of bacteria and fungi, distinct from those found in soils with less challenging conditions. We also built a culture collection from a subset of these soils that encompasses more than 50 bacterial and fungal genera, including cold-tolerant organisms, such as \<i\>Cryobacterium\</i\> and \<i\>Cryomyces\</i\>. By directly comparing the diversity of our cultured isolates against our cultivation-independent data, we show that many of the more abundant Antarctic taxa are not readily cultivated and highlight bacterial and fungal taxa that should be the focus of future cultivation efforts. Together, we hope that our collection of isolates, the comprehensive data compiled from the cultivation-independent analyses, and our geochemical analyses will serve as a community resource to accelerate the study of Antarctic soil microbes.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, bacteria, fungi, microbial ecology, soils}, issn = {0722-4060}, doi = {10.1007/s00300-025-03372-y}, url = {https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00300-025-03372-y}, author = {Dragone, Nicholas B. and Childress, Mary K. and Vanderburgh, Caihong and Willmore, Rachel and Hogg, Ian D. and Sancho, Leopoldo G. and Charles K. Lee and John E. Barrett and Quandt, C. Alisha and LeMonte, Joshua J. and Adams, Byron J. and Noah Fierer} } @article {4844, title = {Causes and characteristics of electrical resistivity variability in shallow (<4 m) soils in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface}, volume = {128}, year = {2023}, month = {02/2023}, pages = {e2022JF006696}, abstract = {

Airborne electromagnetic surveys collected in December 2011 and November 2018 and three soil sampling transects were used to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of shallow (\<4 m) soil properties in lower Taylor Valley (TV), East Antarctica. Soil resistivities from 2011 to 2018 ranged from \∼33 Ωm to \∼3,500 Ωm with 200 Ωm assigned as an upper boundary for brine-saturated sediments. Elevations below \∼50 m above sea level (masl) typically exhibit the lowest resistivities with resistivity increasing at high elevations on steeper slopes. Soil water content was empirically estimated from electrical resistivities using Archie\&$\#$39;s Law and range from \∼\<1\% to \∼68\% by volume. An increase in silt- and clay-sized particles at low elevations increases soil porosity but decreases hydraulic conductivity, promoting greater residence times of soil water at low elevations near Lake Fryxell. Soil resistivity variability between 2011 and 2018 shows soils at different stages of soil freeze-thaw cycles, which are caused predominantly by solar warming of soils as opposed to air temperature. This study furthers the understanding of the hydrogeologic structure of the shallow subsurface in TV and identifies locations of soils that are potentially prone to greater rates of thaw and resulting ecosystem homogenization of soil properties from projected increases in hydrological connectivity across the region over the coming decades.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, active layer, airborne electromagnetic surveys, McMurdo Dry Valleys, permafrost dynamics}, issn = {2169-9003}, doi = {10.1029/2022JF006696}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022JF006696}, author = {Gutterman, William S. and Peter T. Doran and Ross A. Virginia and John E. Barrett and Myers, Krista F. and Tulaczyk, Slawek M. and Foley, Neil T. and Jill A. Mikucki and Hilary A. Dugan and Grombacher, Denys and Bording, Thue S. and Auken, E.} } @article {4627, title = {Connectivity: Insights from the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network}, journal = {Ecosphere}, volume = {12}, year = {2021}, month = {05/2021}, pages = {e03432}, abstract = {

Ecosystems across the United States are changing in complex and surprising ways. Ongoing demand for critical ecosystem services requires an understanding of the populations and communities in these ecosystems in the future. This paper represents a synthesis effort of the U.S. National Science Foundation-funded Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network addressing the core research area of \“populations and communities.\” The objective of this effort was to show the importance of long-term data collection and experiments for addressing the hardest questions in scientific ecology that have significant implications for environmental policy and management. Each LTER site developed at least one compelling case study about what their site could look like in 50\–100 yr as human and environmental drivers influencing specific ecosystems change. As the case studies were prepared, five themes emerged, and the studies were grouped into papers in this LTER Futures Special Feature addressing state change, connectivity, resilience, time lags, and cascading effects. This paper addresses the \“connectivity\” theme and has examples from the Phoenix (urban), Niwot Ridge (alpine tundra), McMurdo Dry Valleys (polar desert), Plum Island (coastal), Santa Barbara Coastal (coastal), and Jornada (arid grassland and shrubland) sites. Connectivity has multiple dimensions, ranging from multi-scalar interactions in space to complex interactions over time that govern the transport of materials and the distribution and movement of organisms. The case studies presented here range widely, showing how land-use legacies interact with climate to alter the structure and function of arid ecosystems and flows of resources and organisms in Antarctic polar desert, alpine, urban, and coastal marine ecosystems. Long-term ecological research demonstrates that connectivity can, in some circumstances, sustain valuable ecosystem functions, such as the persistence of foundation species and their associated biodiversity or, it can be an agent of state change, as when it increases wind and water erosion. Increased connectivity due to warming can also lead to species range expansions or contractions and the introduction of undesirable species. Continued long-term studies are essential for addressing the complexities of connectivity. The diversity of ecosystems within the LTER network is a strong platform for these studies.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, alpine tundra, Antarctic polar desert, arid grassland, arid shrubland, coastal, estuary, salt marsh, Special Feature: Forecasting Earth{\textquoteright}s Ecosystems with Long-Term Ecological Research, urban ecosystem}, issn = {2150-8925}, doi = {10.1002/ecs2.v12.510.1002/ecs2.3432}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.3432}, author = {Iwaniec, David M. and Michael N. Gooseff and Suding, Katharine N. and Johnson, David Samuel and Reed, Daniel C. and Debra P. C. Peters and Byron Adams and John E. Barrett and Bestelmeyer, Brandon T. and Castorani, Max C. N. and Cook, Elizabeth M. and Davidson, Melissa J. and Groffman, Peter M. and Hanan, Niall P. and Huenneke, L and Johnson, Pieter T. J. and Diane M. McKnight and Miller, Robert J. and Okin, Gregory S. and Preston, Daniel L. and Rassweiler, Andrew and Ray, Chris and Osvaldo E. Sala and Schooley, Robert and Seastedt, Timothy and Spasojevic, Marko J. and Vivoni, Enrique R.} } @article {4717, title = {Counting carbon: Quantifying biomass in the McMurdo Dry Valleys through orbital and field observations}, journal = {International Journal of Remote Sensing}, volume = {42}, year = {2021}, month = {10/2021}, pages = {8597 - 8623}, abstract = {

We use correlative field studies and high-resolution multispectral remote sensing data from the WorldView-2 instrument to estimate the abundance of photosynthetically active biomass (photoautotrophs consisting primarily of microbial mats and mosses) in Canada Stream in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica. In situ field investigations were performed to (1) acquire ground validation targets for atmospherically correcting satellite imagery, (2) derive spectra of \“pure\” geologic and biological endmembers, (3) estimate photoautotroph cover from remote sensing data, and (4) convert these coverage estimates to biomass using data collected in the field. Our results suggest that, on the morning of 12 December 2018, the Canada Stream system contained more than 3,800 kg of photosynthetically active carbon. Extrapolating our unmixing results to the entirety of the Fryxell basin of Taylor Valley, Antarctica, we model the presence of more than 750,000 kg of photosynthetically active carbon across the landscape and carbon fixation rates roughly equivalent to five hectares of tropical rainforest. The ability to spatially and temporally quantify the amount of photosynthetically active biomass using remote sensing data in the MDV of Antarctica is a revolutionary development that will help elucidate the ecological drivers and environmental responses in this cold desert landscape.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1080/01431161.2021.1981559}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01431161.2021.1981559}, author = {Salvatore, Mark R. and John E. Barrett and Borges, Schuyler R. and Power, Sarah N. and Lee F. Stanish and Eric R. Sokol and Michael N. Gooseff} } @article {4110, title = {Catch and release: Hyporheic retention and mineralization of N-fixing Nostoc sustains downstream microbial mat biomass in two polar desert streams}, journal = {Limnology and Oceanography Letters}, volume = {3}, year = {2018}, month = {07/2018}, pages = {357 - 364}, abstract = {

Much work has been performed to investigate controls on nitrogen (N) uptake in streams, yet the fate of assimilated N is comparatively poorly resolved. Here, we use in-stream fixed N as an isotopic tracer to study the fate of assimilated N in glacial meltwater streams. We characterized\ d15N signatures of Oscillatorean, Chlorophyte, and N-fixing\ Nostoc\ mats over the lengths of two streams, and transported particulate organic matter (POM) in one. POM was isotopically most similar to\ Nostoc, which always had values near the atmospheric standard, suggesting N-fixation. Other mat types were depleted upstream, and became progressively enriched downstream, indicating a shift in N source. These results collectively show that\ Nostoc-derived N is mobilized, mineralized, and increasingly assimilated downstream as more depleted glacier-derived N is exhausted, demonstrating the importance of organic matter processing to balancing elemental budgets, and improving our understanding of nutrient cycling in lotic environments.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1002/lol2.10087}, url = {https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/lol2.10087}, author = {Tyler J. Kohler and Lee F. Stanish and Liptzin, D. and John E. Barrett and Diane M. McKnight} } @article {1055, title = {Characterization of Growing Bacterial Populations in McMurdo Dry Valley Soils through Stable Isotope Probing with 18O-water.}, journal = {FEMS Microbiology Ecology.}, volume = {89}, year = {2014}, month = {08/2014}, pages = {415-425}, chapter = {415}, abstract = {Soil microbial communities of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica (MDV) contain representatives from at least fourteen bacterial phyla. However, given low rates of microbial activity, it is unclear whether this richness represents functioning rather than dormant members of the community. We used stable isotope probing (SIP) with (18) O-water to determine if microbial populations grow in MDV soils. Changes in the microbial community were characterized in soils amended with H2 (18) O and H2 (18) O-organic matter. Sequencing the 16S rRNA genes of the heavy and light fractions of the bacterial community DNA shows that DNA of microbial populations was labeled with (18) O-water, indicating these micro-organisms grew in the MDV soils. Significant differences existed in the community composition of the heavy and light fractions of the H2 (18) O and H2 (18) O-organic matter amended samples (Anosim P < 0.05 of weighted Unifrac distance). Control samples and the light DNA fraction of the H2 (18) O amended samples were dominated by representatives of the phyla Deinococcus-Thermus, Proteobacteria, Planctomyces, Gemmatimonadetes, Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria, whereas Proteobacteria were more prevalent in the heavy DNA fractions from the H2 (18) O-water and the H2 (18) O-water-organic matter treatments. Our results indicate that SIP with H2 (18) O can be used to distinguish active bacterial populations even in this low organic matter environment.}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1111/1574-6941.12349}, author = {Schwartz, E. and David J. Van Horn and Heather N. Buelow and Michael N. Gooseff and John E. Barrett and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach and Okie, J.G.} } @article {1240, title = {Controls on the spatial dimensions of wetted hydrologic margins of two antarctic lakes}, journal = {Vadose Zone Journal}, volume = {6}, year = {2007}, pages = {841-848}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.2136/​vzj2006.0161}, author = {Michael N. Gooseff and John E. Barrett and Melissa L. Northcott and D. Brad Bate and Kenneth R. Hill and Lydia H. Zeglin and Bobb, M and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} } @article {1264, title = {Co-variation in soil biodiversity and biogeochemistry in Northern and Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica}, journal = {Antarctic Science}, volume = {18}, year = {2006}, pages = {535-548}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1017/S0954102006000587}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/covariation-in-soil-biodiversity-and-biogeochemistry-in-northern-and-southern-victoria-land-antarctica/C3514C28DB75F3A19DB5F266D4B1B56E}, author = {John E. Barrett and Ross A. Virginia and Diana H. Wall and Craig S Cary and Byron Adams and Hacker, A and Aislabie, J} }