@article {4935, title = {Sentinel protist taxa of the McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, Antarctica: A review}, journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {12}, year = {2024}, month = {03/2024}, pages = {1323472}, abstract = {

High-latitude meromictic lakes such as those in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) harbor aquatic ecosystems dominated by the microbial loop. Within this habitat, which is limited year-round by light and nutrients, protists, or single celled eukaryotes, play outsized roles in the food web as the dominant primary producers and the apex predators. Thus, the MDV lake ecosystem represents an ideal system to study the role of sentinel protist taxa in carbon and nutrient cycling. The perennially ice-covered lakes are part of the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research (McM LTER; mcmlter.org) established in 1993. In this review we will highlight the diversity and trophic roles of the MDV lake protist community and compare environmental factors driving spatiotemporal patterns in key protist taxa in two lakes within the McM LTER, Lakes Bonney and Fryxell. We will then discuss lessons learned from manipulated experiments on the impact of current and future climate-driven environmental change on sensitive protist taxa. Last, we will integrate knowledge gained from 25 years of lab-controlled experiments on key photosynthetic protists to extend our understanding of the function of these extremophiles within the MDV aquatic food webs. Our research group has studied the distribution and function of the MDV microbial community for nearly two decades, training the next generation of scientists to tackle future problems of these globally significant microbes. This review article will also highlight early career scientists who have contributed to this body of work and represent the future of scientific understanding in the Anthropocene.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, Disturbance, McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, phytoplankton, protist}, doi = {10.3389/fevo.2024.1323472}, url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1323472}, author = {Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss and Popson, Devon and Pereira, Rochelle and Dolhi-Binder, J and Teufel, Amber G. and Li, Wei and Kalra, Isha and Sherwell, Shasten S. and Reynebeau, Emily and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach} } @article {4818, title = {Cross-site comparisons of dryland ecosystem response to climate change in the US Long-Term Ecological Research Network}, journal = {BioScience}, year = {2022}, month = {08/2022}, abstract = {

Long-term observations and experiments in diverse drylands reveal how ecosystems and services are responding to climate change. To develop generalities about climate change impacts at dryland sites, we compared broadscale patterns in climate and synthesized primary production responses among the eight terrestrial, nonforested sites of the United States Long-Term Ecological Research (US LTER) Network located in temperate (Southwest and Midwest) and polar (Arctic and Antarctic) regions. All sites experienced warming in recent decades, whereas drought varied regionally with multidecadal phases. Multiple years of wet or dry conditions had larger effects than single years on primary production. Droughts, floods, and wildfires altered resource availability and restructured plant communities, with greater impacts on primary production than warming alone. During severe regional droughts, air pollution from wildfire and dust events peaked. Studies at US LTER drylands over more than 40 years demonstrate reciprocal links and feedbacks among dryland ecosystems, climate-driven disturbance events, and climate change.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, ANPP, climate change, Disturbance, drought, LTER, wildfire}, issn = {0006-3568}, doi = {10.1093/biosci/biab134}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biab134/6654840}, author = {Hudson, Amy R. and Debra P. C. Peters and J.M. Blair and Childers, Daniel L. and Peter T. Doran and Geil, Kerrie and Michael N. Gooseff and Gross, Katherine L. and Haddad, Nick M. and Pastore, Melissa A. and Rudgers, Jennifer A. and Osvaldo E. Sala and Seabloom, Eric W. and Shaver, Gaius} } @article {4107, title = {Spatial and temporal patterns of microbial mats and associated invertebrates along an Antarctic stream}, journal = {Polar Biology}, volume = {41}, year = {2018}, month = {10/2018}, pages = {1911{\textendash}1921}, abstract = {

Microbial biofilms are biological hotspots in many alpine and polar ecosystems, but the controls on and functional significance of their fauna are little known. We studied cyanobacterial mats and the underlying sediment in a glacial meltwater stream in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. We investigated mat biomass (total and phototrophic), diatoms, and micro-meiofauna (nematodes, rotifers, and tardigrades) at nine sites along a 1670 m stream reach in a cold, low-flow growing season, and in a warmer growing season in which peak flows (above 100 L s\−1) scoured the mats. Diatom and invertebrate communities were not related, but mat biomass in the low-flow year was negatively related to nematode abundance, including that of the omnivore\ Eudorylaimus. In the high-flow year that followed, invertebrate abundance was reduced in the mats, diatom community structure was altered, and mat biomass was higher. The difference in invertebrate abundance between years was greater in mats in upstream reaches, where the greatest increases in flow velocity may have occurred, and was negligible in mats in downstream reaches as well as in the sediment beneath the mats. Integrating our results with previous findings, we generate two predictive hypotheses to be tested in glacial meltwater streams: (1) under peak flows invertebrates decline in the microbial mats, while (2) the sediment beneath the mats is a refuge from the flow disturbance. Our results also suggest that, under stable flow conditions, microinvertebrate grazers could exert top-down control on microbial mat biomass.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, diatoms, Disturbance, Dry valleys, Epilithon, Microfauna, Stream flow}, doi = {10.1007/s00300-018-2331-4}, url = {http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00300-018-2331-4}, author = {Andriuzzi, Walter S. and Lee F. Stanish and Breana L. Simmons and Chris Jaros and Byron Adams and Diana H. Wall and Diane M. McKnight} } @phdthesis {4087, title = {Physical and chemical controls on the abundance and composition of stream microbial mats from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, volume = {Ph.D.}, year = {2015}, pages = {272}, school = {University of Colorado}, type = {doctoral}, address = {Boulder, CO}, abstract = {

The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are a cold, dry desert, yet perennial microbial mats are abundant in the ephemeral glacial meltwater streams that flow during austral summers. Three types of mats are present (orange, black, and green), and are primarily comprised of filamentous cyanobacteria,\ Nostoc, and chlorophytes, respectively. Mat types furthermore occupy distinct habitats within streams, utilizing the benthos, hyporheic zone, and water column, which expose them to different environmental conditions. Due to a lack of lateral inflows, allochthonous organic inputs, and negligible grazing activity, these streams are ideal for the controlled ecological study of microbial mats. Here, I investigated how mats will respond to physical disturbance, alterations in the hydrologic regime, and nutrient liberation from permafrost melt in the future. Specifically, I: 1) quantified and characterized the regrowth of mat biomass, community structure, and elemental stoichiometry after a scouring disturbance, 2) investigated how geomorphology and taxonomic identity influences the response of mat biomass to hydrologic regime in transects monitored over two decades, and 3) evaluated relationships between water chemistry and the elemental and isotopic composition of mat types over longitudinal and valley-wide gradients in Taylor Valley. I found that mats recovered ~20-50\% of their biomass over the course of an austral summer following scour. Algal communities were significantly different in composition between disturbed and control treatments, but all samples naturally varied in species and elemental stoichiometry over the study period. When the long- term record of mat biomass was compared with hydrologic variables, stream channel mats (orange and green) had the greatest correlations, while marginal mats (black) showed weaker relationships with flow regime. Relationships also differed as a function of stream geomorphology, indicating the importance of substrata and gradient in conjunction with discharge. Lastly, mats showed unique elemental and isotopic compositions. Green and orange mats within the stream channel most reflected water column nutrient concentrations, while black mats showed significant nitrogen fixation. These results highlight the importance of taxonomic identity and habitat to modeling primary production here and elsewhere, and provide insight to how stream microbial mat communities are formed, maintained, and ultimately persist in an isolated polar desert.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, algae, Antarctica, biological sciences, climate change, Disturbance, earth sciences, McMurdo Dry Valleys, microbial mats}, url = {https://search.proquest.com/docview/1690497718?accountid=14503}, author = {Tyler J. Kohler}, editor = {Diane M. McKnight} }