@article {4759, title = {Limits to the three domains of life: Lessons from community assembly along an Antarctic salinity gradient}, journal = {Extremophiles}, volume = {26}, year = {2022}, month = {04/2022}, pages = {15}, abstract = {

Extremophiles exist among all three domains of life; however, physiological mechanisms for surviving harsh environmental conditions differ among Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. Consequently, we expect that domain-specific variation of diversity and community assembly patterns exist along environmental gradients in extreme environments. We investigated inter-domain community compositional differences along a high-elevation salinity gradient in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Conductivity for 24 soil samples collected along the gradient ranged widely from 50 to 8355 \µS cm-1. Taxonomic richness varied among domains, with a total of 359 bacterial, 2 archaeal, 56 fungal, and 69 non-fungal eukaryotic operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Richness for bacteria, archaea, fungi, and non-fungal eukaryotes declined with increasing conductivity (all P\ \<\ 0.05). Principal coordinate ordination analysis (PCoA) revealed significant (ANOSIM R\ =\ 0.97) groupings of low/high salinity bacterial OTUs, while OTUs from other domains were not significantly clustered. Bacterial beta diversity was unimodally distributed along the gradient and had a nested structure driven by species losses, whereas in fungi and non-fungal eukaryotes beta diversity declined monotonically without strong evidence of nestedness. Thus, while increased salinity acts as a stressor in all domains, the mechanisms driving community assembly along the gradient differ substantially between the domains.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, inter-domain response, McMurdo Dry Valleys, salinity, species richness patterns}, doi = {10.1007/s00792-022-01262-3}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00792-022-01262-3}, author = {Jiang, Xiaoben and David J. Van Horn and Okie, Jordan G. and Heather N. Buelow and Schwartz, Egbert and Colman, Daniel R. and Feeser, Kelli L. and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} } @article {4136, title = {Local and Regional Scale Heterogeneity Drive Bacterial Community Diversity and Composition in a Polar Desert}, journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology}, volume = {9}, year = {2018}, month = {08/2018}, abstract = {

The distribution of organisms in an environment is neither uniform nor random but is instead spatially patterned. The factors that control this patterning are complex and the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Soil microbes are critical to ecosystem function but exhibit highly complex distributions and community dynamics due in large part to the scale-dependent effects of environmental heterogeneity. To better understand the impact of environmental heterogeneity on the distribution of soil microbes, we sequenced the 16S rRNA gene from bacterial communities in the microbe-dominated polar desert ecosystem of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica. Significant differences in key edaphic variables and alpha diversity were observed among the three lake basins of the Taylor Valley (Kruskal\–Wallis; pH: χ2 = 68.89, P \< 0.001, conductivity: χ2 = 35.03, P \< 0.001, observed species: χ2 = 7.98, P = 0.019 and inverse Simpson: χ2 = 18.52, P \< 0.001) and each basin supported distinctive microbial communities (ANOSIM R = 0.466, P = 0.001, random forest ratio of 14.1). However, relationships between community structure and edaphic characteristics were highly variable and contextual, ranging in magnitude and direction across regional, basin, and local scales. Correlations among edaphic factors (pH and soil conductivity) and the relative abundance of specific phyla were most pronounced along local environmental gradients in the Lake Fryxell basin where Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria declined while Deinococcus\–Thermus and Gemmatimonadetes increased with soil conductivity (all P \< 0.1). Species richness was most strongly related to the soil conductivity gradient present within this study system. We suggest that the relative importance of pH versus soil conductivity in structuring microbial communities is related to the length of edaphic gradients and the spatial scale of sampling. These results highlight the importance of conducting studies over large ranges of key environmental gradients and across multiple spatial scales to assess the influence of environmental heterogeneity on the composition and diversity of microbial communities.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2018.01928}, url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01928/full}, author = {Feeser, Kelli L. and David J. Van Horn and Heather N. Buelow and Colman, Daniel R. and McHugh, Theresa A. and Okie, Jordan G. and Schwartz, Egbert and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} } @article {4101, title = {High-resolution elevation mapping of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, and surrounding regions}, journal = {Earth System Science Data}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {07/2017}, pages = {435 - 443}, abstract = {

We present detailed surface elevation measurements for the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica derived from aerial lidar surveys flown in the austral summer of 2014\–2015 as part of an effort to understand geomorphic changes over the past decade. Lidar return density varied from 2 to \> 10 returns m\−2\ with an average of about 5 returns m\−2. Vertical and horizontal accuracies are estimated to be 7 and 3 cm, respectively. In addition to our intended targets, other ad hoc regions were also surveyed including the Pegasus flight facility and two regions on Ross Island, McMurdo Station, Scott Base (and surroundings), and the coastal margin between Cape Royds and Cape Evans. These data are included in this report and data release. The combined data are freely available at\ https://doi.org/10.5069/G9D50JX3.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.5194/essd-9-435-2017}, url = {https://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/9/435/2017/essd-9-435-2017.pdf}, author = {Andrew G Fountain and Fernandez-Diaz, Juan C. and Maciek K. Obryk and Joseph S. Levy and Michael N. Gooseff and David J. Van Horn and Morin, P and Shrestha, Ramesh} } @article {4032, title = {Impacts of permafrost degradation on a stream in Taylor Valley, Antarctica}, journal = {Geomorphology}, volume = {285}, year = {2017}, month = {05/2017}, pages = {205 - 213}, abstract = {

The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica are an ice-free landscape that supports a complex, microbially dominated ecosystem despite a severely arid, cold environment (b 5 cm water equivalent/y, \− 18 \°C mean annual air temperature). Recent observations of permafrost degradation in the coastal zones of the MDV suggest that this region is nearing a threshold of rapid landscape change. In 2012, substantial thermokarst development was observed along several kilometers of the west branch of Crescent Stream in Taylor Valley mostly in the form of bank failures, whereas the adjacent east branch was unaffected. The objective of this study was to quantify the changes to the stream banks of the west branch of Crescent Stream and to determine the impacts on the composition of the stream bed material. Three annually repeated terrestrial LiDAR scans were compared to determine the rates of ground surface change caused by thermokarst formation on the stream bank. The areal extent of the thermokarst was shown to be decreasing; however, the average vertical rate of retreat remained constant. Field measurements of bed materials indicated that the west branch and the reach downstream of the confluence (of east and west branches) consistently contained more fines than the unaffected east branch. This suggests that the finer bed material is a result of the thermokarst development on the west branch. These finer bed material compositions are likely to increase the mobility of the bed material, which will have implications for stream morphology, stream algal mat communities, and downstream aquatic ecosystems.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.02.009}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0169555X16308467}, author = {Sudman, Zachary and Michael N. Gooseff and Andrew G Fountain and Joseph S. Levy and Maciek K. Obryk and David J. Van Horn} } @article {3952, title = {Microbial Community Responses to Increased Water and Organic Matter in the Arid Soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology}, volume = {7}, year = {2016}, month = {07/2016}, chapter = {1040}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2016.01040}, url = {http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01040}, author = {Heather N. Buelow and Winter, Ara S. and David J. Van Horn and John E. Barrett and Michael N. Gooseff and Schwartz, Egbert and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} } @article {3959, title = {Nutrient treatments alter microbial mat colonization in two glacial meltwater streams from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, journal = {FEMS Microbiology Ecology}, volume = {92}, year = {2016}, month = {03/2016}, pages = {fiw049}, abstract = {

Microbial mats are abundant in many alpine and polar aquatic ecosystems. With warmer temperatures, new hydrologic pathways are developing in these regions and increasing dissolved nutrient fluxes. In the McMurdo Dry Valleys, thermokarsting may release both nutrients and sediment, and has the potential to influence mats in glacial meltwater streams. To test the role of nutrient inputs on community structure, we created nutrient diffusing substrata (NDS) with agar enriched in N, P and N + P, with controls, and deployed them into two Dry Valley streams. We found N amendments (N and N + P) to have greater chlorophyll-a concentrations, total algal biovolume, more fine filamentous cyanobacteria and a higher proportion of live diatoms than other treatments. Furthermore, N treatments were substantially elevated in Bacteroidetes and the small diatom,\ Fistulifera pelliculosa. On the other hand, species richness was almost double in P and N + P treatments over others, and coccoid green algae and Proteobacteria were more abundant in both streams. Collectively, these data suggest that nutrients have the potential to stimulate growth and alter community structure in glacial meltwater stream microbial mats, and the recent erosion of permafrost and accelerated glacial melt will likely impact resident biota in polar lotic systems here and elsewhere.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1093/femsec/fiw049}, url = {http://femsec.oxfordjournals.org/lookup/doi/10.1093/femsec/fiw049}, author = {Tyler J. Kohler and David J. Van Horn and Darling, Joshua P. and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach and Diane M. McKnight}, editor = {Wagner, Dirk} } @article {3958, title = {Patterns of bacterial biodiversity in the glacial meltwater streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, journal = {FEMS Microbiology Ecology}, volume = {92}, year = {2016}, month = {08/2016}, pages = {fiw148}, abstract = {

Microbial consortia dominate glacial meltwater streams from polar regions, including the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), where they thrive under physiologically stressful conditions. In this study, we examined microbial mat types and sediments found in 12 hydrologically diverse streams to describe the community diversity and composition within and across sites. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene from 129 samples revealed \∼24 000 operational taxonomic units (\<97\% DNA similarity), making streams the most biodiverse habitat in the MDV. Principal coordinate analyses revealed significant but weak clustering by mat type across all streams (ANOSIM R-statistic = 0.28) but stronger clustering within streams (ANOSIM R-statistic from 0.28 to 0.94). Significant relationships (P \< 0.05) were found between bacterial diversity and mat ash-free dry mass, suggesting that diversity is related to the hydrologic regimes of the various streams, which are predictive of mat biomass. However, correlations between stream chemistry and community members were weak, possibly reflecting the importance of internal processes and hydrologic conditions. Collectively, these results suggest that localized conditions dictate bacterial community composition of the same mat types and sediments from different streams, and while MDV streams are hotspots of biodiversity in an otherwise depauperate landscape, controls on community structure are complex and site specific.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1093/femsec/fiw148}, url = {http://femsec.oxfordjournals.org/lookup/doi/10.1093/femsec/fiw148}, author = {David J. Van Horn and Wolf, Caitlin R. and Colman, Daniel R. and Jiang, Xiaoben and Tyler J. Kohler and Diane M. McKnight and Lee F. Stanish and Yazzie, Terrill and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} } @article {3875, title = {Stream biogeochemical and suspended sediment responses to permafrost degradation in stream banks in Taylor Valley, Antarctica}, journal = {Biogeosciences}, volume = {13}, year = {2016}, month = {03/2016}, pages = {1723 - 1732}, abstract = {

\ Stream channels in the McMurdo Dry Valleys are characteristically wide, incised, and stable. At typical flows, streams occupy a fraction of the oversized channels, providing habitat for algal mats. In January 2012, we discovered substantial channel erosion and subsurface thermomechanical erosion undercutting banks of the Crescent Stream. We sampled stream water along the impacted reach and compared concentrations of solutes to the long-term data from this stream (\ \∼\  20 years of monitoring). Thermokarst-impacted stream water demonstrated higher electrical conductivity, and concentrations of chloride, sulfate, sodium, and nitrate than the long-term medians. These results suggest that this mode of lateral permafrost degradation may substantially impact stream solute loads and potentially fertilize stream and lake ecosystems. The potential for sediment to scour or bury stream algal mats is yet to be determined, though it may offset impacts of associated increased nutrient loads to streams.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.5194/bg-13-1723-2016}, url = {http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/1723/2016/bg-13-1723-2016.pdf}, author = {Michael N. Gooseff and David J. Van Horn and Sudman, Zachary and Diane M. McKnight and Kathleen A. Welch and W. Berry Lyons} } @article {3522, title = {Niche and metabolic principles explain patterns of diversity and distribution: theory and a case study with soil bacterial communities}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}, volume = {282}, year = {2015}, month = {05/2015}, pages = {2630}, abstract = {

The causes of biodiversity patterns are controversial and elusive due to complex environmental variation, covarying changes in communities, and lack of baseline and null theories to differentiate straightforward causes from more complex mechanisms. To address these limitations, we developed general diversity theory integrating metabolic principles with niche-based community assembly. We evaluated this theory by investigating patterns in the diversity and distribution of soil bacteria taxa across four orders of magnitude variation in spatial scale on an Antarctic mountainside in low complexity, highly oligotrophic soils. Our theory predicts that lower temperatures should reduce taxon niche widths along environmental gradients due to decreasing growth rates, and the changing niche widths should lead to contrasting α- and β-diversity patterns. In accord with the predictions, α-diversity, niche widths and occupancies decreased while β-diversity increased with increasing elevation and decreasing temperature. The theory also successfully predicts a hump-shaped relationship between α-diversity and pH and a negative relationship between α-diversity and salinity. Thus, a few simple principles explained systematic microbial diversity variation along multiple gradients. Such general theory can be used to disentangle baseline effects from more complex effects of temperature and other variables on biodiversity patterns in a variety of ecosystems and organisms.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, issn = {0962-8452}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2014.2630}, url = {http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rspb.2014.2630}, author = {Okie, Jordan G. and David J. Van Horn and Storch, David and John E. Barrett and Michael N. Gooseff and Kopsova, Lenka and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} } @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 {3202, title = {The McMurdo Dry Valleys: A landscape on the threshold of change}, journal = {Geomorphology}, volume = {225}, year = {2014}, month = {11/2014}, pages = {25 - 35}, abstract = {

Field observations of coastal and lowland regions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys suggest they are on the threshold of rapid topographic change, in contrast to the high elevation upland landscape that represents some of the lowest rates of surface change on Earth. A number of landscapes have undergone dramatic and unprecedented landscape changes over the past decade including, the Wright Lower Glacier (Wright Valley) \— ablated several tens of meters, the Garwood River (Garwood Valley) has incised \>\ 3\ m into massive ice permafrost, smaller streams in Taylor Valley (Crescent, Lawson, and Lost Seal Streams) have experienced extensive down-cutting and/or bank undercutting, and Canada Glacier (Taylor Valley) has formed sheer, \>\ 4\ meter deep canyons. The commonality between all these landscape changes appears to be sediment on ice acting as a catalyst for melting, including ice-cement permafrost thaw. We attribute these changes to increasing solar radiation over the past decade despite no significant trend in summer air temperature. To infer possible future landscape changes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, due to anticipated climate warming, we map \‘at risk\’ landscapes defined as those with buried massive ice in relative warm regions of the valleys. Results show that large regions of the valley bottoms are \‘at risk\’. Changes in surface topography will trigger important responses in hydrology, geochemistry, and biological community structure and function.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, issn = {0169555X}, doi = {10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.03.044}, url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0169555X14001780http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0169555X14001780?httpAccept=text/xmlhttp://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0169555X14001780?httpAccept=text/plain}, author = {Andrew G Fountain and Joseph S. Levy and Michael N. Gooseff and David J. Van Horn} } @article {1064, title = {Soil microbial responses to increased moisture and organic resources along a salinity gradient in a polar desert.}, journal = {Applied and Environmental Microbiology.}, volume = {80}, year = {2014}, month = {05/2014}, pages = {3034-3043}, chapter = {3034}, abstract = {Microbial communities in extreme environments often have low diversity and specialized physiologies suggesting a limited resistance to change. The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) are a microbially dominated, extreme ecosystem currently undergoing climate change-induced disturbances, including the melting of massive buried ice, cutting through of permafrost by streams, and warming events. These processes are increasing moisture across the landscape, altering conditions for soil communities by mobilizing nutrients and salts and stimulating autotrophic carbon inputs to soils. The goal of this study was to determine the effects of resource addition (water/organic matter) on the composition and function of microbial communities in the MDV along a natural salinity gradient representing an additional gradient of stress in an already extreme environment. Soil respiration and the activity of carbon-acquiring extracellular enzymes increased significantly (P < 0.05) with the addition of resources at the low- and moderate-salinity sites but not the high-salinity site. The bacterial community composition was altered, with an increase in Proteobacteria and Firmicutes with water and organic matter additions at the low- and moderate-salinity sites and a near dominance of Firmicutes at the high-salinity site. Principal coordinate analyses of all samples using a phylogenetically informed distance matrix (UniFrac) demonstrated discrete clustering among sites (analysis of similarity [ANOSIM], P < 0.05 and R > 0.40) and among most treatments within sites. The results from this experimental work suggest that microbial communities in this environment will undergo rapid change in response to the altered resources resulting from climate change impacts occurring in this region.}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1128/AEM.03414-13}, author = {David J. Van Horn and Okie, J.G. and Heather N. Buelow and Michael N. Gooseff and John E. Barrett and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} } @article {1084, title = {Environmental controls over bacterial communities in polar desert soils}, journal = {Ecosphere}, volume = {4}, year = {2013}, month = {10/2013}, pages = {art127}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1890/ES13-00048.1}, author = {Kevin M. Geyer and Adam E. Altrichter and David J. Van Horn and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach and Michael N. Gooseff and John E. Barrett} } @article {1092, title = {Factors Controlling Soil Microbial Biomass and Bacterial Diversity and Community Composition in a Cold Desert Ecosystem: Role of Geographic Scale}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {8}, year = {2013}, month = {06/2013}, pages = {e66103}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0066103.s003}, url = {http://www.plosone.org/article/info\%3Adoi\%2F10.1371\%2Fjournal.pone.0066103}, author = {David J. Van Horn and Van Horn, M. Lee and John E. Barrett and Michael N. Gooseff and Adam E. Altrichter and Kevin M. Geyer and Lydia H. Zeglin and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} }