@article {4768, title = {Patterns and trends of organic matter processing and transport: Insights from the US Long-term Ecological Research Network}, journal = {Climate Change Ecology}, volume = {2}, year = {2021}, month = {12/2021}, pages = {100025}, abstract = {

Organic matter (OM) dynamics determine how much carbon is stored in ecosystems, a service that modulates climate. We synthesized research from across the US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network to assemble a conceptual model of OM dynamics that is consistent with inter-disciplinary perspectives and emphasizes vulnerability of OM pools to disturbance. Guided by this conceptual model, we identified unanticipated patterns and long-term trends in processing and transport of OM emerging from terrestrial, freshwater, wetland, and marine ecosystems. Cross-ecosystem synthesis combined with a survey of researchers revealed several themes: 1) strong effects of climate change on OM dynamics, 2) surprising patterns in OM storage and dynamics resulting from coupling with nutrients, 3) characteristic and often complex legacies of land use and disturbance, 4) a significant role of OM transport that is often overlooked in terrestrial ecosystems, and 5) prospects for reducing uncertainty in forecasting OM dynamics by incorporating the chemical composition of OM. Cross-fertilization of perspectives and approaches across LTER sites and other research networks can stimulate the comprehensive understanding required to support large-scale characterizations of OM budgets and the role of ecosystems in regulating global climate.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, coupled biogeochemical cycles, cross-site synthesis, organic matter composition, organic matter storage, stabilization, transport}, issn = {26669005}, doi = {10.1016/j.ecochg.2021.100025}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666900521000253}, author = {Harms, Tamara K. and Groffman, Peter M. and Aluwihare, Lihini and Craft, Christopher and Wieder, William R and Hobbie, S and Baer, Sara G. and J.M. Blair and Frey, Serita D. and Remucal, Christina K. and Rudgers, Jennifer A. and Collins, SL and Kominoski, John S. and Ball, Becky and John C. Priscu and John E. Barrett} } @article {4021, title = {Primary productivity as a control over soil microbial diversity along environmental gradients in a polar desert ecosystem}, journal = {PeerJ}, volume = {5}, year = {2017}, month = {07/2017}, pages = {e3377}, abstract = {

Primary production is the fundamental source of energy to foodwebs and ecosystems, and is thus an important constraint on soil communities. This coupling is particularly evident in polar terrestrial ecosystems where biological diversity and activity is tightly constrained by edaphic gradients of productivity (e.g., soil moisture, organic carbon availability) and geochemical severity (e.g., pH, electrical conductivity). In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, environmental gradients determine numerous properties of soil communities and yet relatively few estimates of gross or net primary productivity (GPP, NPP) exist for this region. Here we describe a survey utilizing pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometry to estimate rates of GPP across a broad environmental gradient along with belowground microbial diversity and decomposition. PAM estimates of GPP ranged from an average of 0.27 mmol O2/m2/s in the most arid soils to an average of 6.97 mmol O2/m2/s in the most productive soils, the latter equivalent to 217 g C/m2/y in annual NPP assuming a 60 day growing season. A diversity index of four carbon-acquiring enzyme activities also increased with soil productivity, suggesting that the diversity of organic substrates in mesic environments may be an additional driver of microbial diversity. Overall, soil productivity was a stronger predictor of microbial diversity and enzymatic activity than any estimate of geochemical severity. These results highlight the fundamental role of environmental gradients to control community diversity and the dynamics of ecosystem-scale carbon pools in arid systems.\ 

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.7717/peerj.3377}, url = {https://peerj.com/articles/3377/}, author = {Kevin M. Geyer and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach and Michael N. Gooseff and John E. Barrett} } @article {1203, title = {Persistent effects of a discrete climate event on a polar desert ecosystem}, journal = {Global Change Biology}, volume = {14}, year = {2008}, month = {06/2008}, pages = {2249-2261}, type = {Journal}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Climate Response, nematodes}, doi = {10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01641.x}, author = {John E. Barrett and Ross A. Virginia and Diana H. Wall} } @inbook {1273, title = {Pedogenic carbonate distribution within glacial till in Taylor Valley, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica}, booktitle = {Paleoenvironmental Record and Applications of Calcretes and Palustrine Carbonates}, year = {2006}, pages = {89-103}, publisher = {Geological Society of America}, organization = {Geological Society of America}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1130/2006.2416(06)}, author = {Foley, K and W. Berry Lyons and John E. Barrett and Ross A. Virginia} } @article {1281, title = {Phosphorus fractions in soils of Taylor Valley, Antarctica}, journal = {Soil Science Society of America Journal}, volume = {70}, year = {2006}, pages = {806-815}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {LTER}, author = {Blecker, S and Ippolito, J and John E. Barrett and Diana H. Wall and Ross A. Virginia and Norvell, K} } @article {1289, title = {Potential soil organic matter turnover in Taylor Valley, Antarctica}, journal = {Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research}, volume = {37}, year = {2005}, month = {02/2005}, pages = {108-117}, type = {Journal}, abstract = {

Antarctic Dry Valley ecosystems are among the most inhospitable soil ecosystems on earth with simple food webs and nearly undetectable fluxes of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). Due to the lack of vascular plants, soil organic matter concentrations are extremely low, and it is unclear how much of the contemporary soil C budget is actively cycling or a legacy of paleolake production and sedimentation. While recent work indicates multiple sources of organic matter for dry valley soils, the composition and kinetics of organic pools remain poorly characterized. We examined soil organic matter pools and potential C and N turnover in soils from within six sites located across three hydrological basins of Taylor Valley, Antarctica that differed in surface age, microclimate and proximity to legacy (paleolake) sources of organic matter. We estimated potential C and N mineralization, and rate kinetics using gas exchange and repeated leaching techniques during 90-d incubations of surface soils collected from valley basin and valley slope positions in three basins of Taylor Valley. Soil organic C content was negatively correlated with the ages of underlying tills, supporting previous descriptions of legacy organic matter. Carbon and N mineralization generally followed 1st order kinetics and were well described by exponential models. Labile pools of C (90 d) were 10\% of the total organic C in the upper 5 cm of the soil profile. Labile N was 50\% of the total N in surface soils of Taylor Valley. These results show that a large proportion of soil C and particularly N are mineralizable under suitable conditions and suggest that a kinetically defined labile pool of organic matter is potentially active in the field during brief intervals of favorable microclimate. Climate variation changing the duration of these conditions may have potentially large effects on the small pools of C and N in these soils.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Biggie}, doi = {10.1657/1523-0430(2005)037[0108:PSOMTI]2.0.CO;2}, url = {http://instaar.metapress.com/content/e653225425230175/}, author = {John E. Barrett and Ross A. Virginia and Andrew N. Parsons and Diana H. Wall} }