Investigation of the effect of elevation and topography on soil biota and soil properties was part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. The number of soil organisms (nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades), divided by species, sex and maturity was monitored at 3 elevations, initially in Taylor Valley (1993) then Garwood and Miers Valleys (2012) in order to accomplish this.
Dataset Results
Mineral apatite is the ultimate source of the essential nutrient phosphorus to the soil ecosystem. In order to assess the biogeochemical weathering of apatite grains in the dry, basic soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, we collected nine surface soil samples from the Fryxell and Bonney Basins of Taylor Valley. After separating more than 50 individual soil apatite grains from each sample, we used scanning electron microscopy to quantify the morphology and surface etching of apatite grains to determine the degree of weathering.
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This package contains data collected from microbial mat surveys (i.e., percent cover, ash-free dry mass (AFDM), and pigment concentrations – chlorophyll-a, scytonemin, and carotenoids) associated with satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values from the Lake Fryxell Basin of Taylor Valley, located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica.
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This data package includes the abundance of microbial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for samples collected during the austral summer of 2012-2013 in the Lake Hoare and Goldman Glacier Basins of Taylor Valley, Antarctica. A total of twenty samples from on- and off-water track soils were collected and analyzed. Samples were collected from the Lake Hoare Basin on 27 December 2012 and from the Goldman Glacier Basin on 4 January 2013.
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Populations of Plectus murrayi, a mesophilic nematode, have been increasing in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica over the past three decades. In contrast, most other Antarctic nematode species, including Scottnema lindsayae, have experienced constant population declines over the same time period due to climate change related increases in summer temperatures and wetting occurrences. To determine why P.
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Elemental stoichiometry is a useful theoretical framework for understanding the sources and controls on nutrient availability that can structure the composition, diversity, and life history of biotic communities. One such relationship, as postulated by the growth rate hypothesis (GRH), is that organismal development rate is positively linked to cellular phosphorus (P).
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A study was conducted to examine soil microbial communities and associated geochemical parameters at potential glacial refugia and glaciated control sites throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Soil samples were collected as part of ongoing long-term monitoring efforts by the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program (MCM LTER). The oldest samples used in this study were collected during the 1993-1994 austral summer, and the newest from the 2018-2019 austral summer.
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Climate warming in polar regions is associated with thawing of permafrost, resulting in significant changes in soil hydrology, biogeochemical cycling, and in the activity and composition of soil communities. While ongoing directional climate warming presses can elicit such responses over decadal time scales, their manifestation typically occurs as discrete thawing pulses. Indeed, in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, abrupt changes in community structure and biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems following a summer warming event (Jan.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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As part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, five Active Layer Monitoring Stations (ALMSs) were established throughout Taylor Valley, Antarctica to support new research foci around the thermal-moisture dynamics of soils that may control habitat conditions and faunal responses to seasonal and annual freezing cycles in this ecosystem. Two ALMSs were established adjacent to streams (Green Creek, Von Guerard Stream), with sensors installed through the active layer from the thalweg out to the shoreline and dry soil beyond.
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This data package includes ecological parameters of biocrust and soil from samples collected in-situ within the Lake Fryxell Basin of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica during December of 2019. Parameters include biological (ash-free dry mass, pigment concentration, and counts of soil invertebrates), physical (water content, electrical conductivity, and pH), and chemical properties (inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorous, total nitrogen, and total organic carbon) of the surface soil, biocrust, and underlying soil.
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This data package includes biophysicochemical properties of biocrust and soil samples collected in-situ within the Lake Fryxell basin of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica during December 2022 at 64 different terrestrial locations. These parameters include biological (ash-free dry mass, pigment concentration, soil invertebrate counts), physical (gravimetric water content, electrical conductivity, pH), and chemical (inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorous, total nitrogen, soil organic carbon) properties of the surface soil, biocrust, and underlying soil.