IEDA
Project Information
LTER: Ecosystem Response to Amplified Landscape Connectivity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Short Title:
MCM LTER V
Start Date:
2017-06-02
End Date:
2023-05-31
Project Location(s)
McMurdo Dry Valleys
Program:
LTER
Description/Abstract
The McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are a mosaic of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in a cold desert. The McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project has been observing these ecosystems since 1993 and this award will support key long-term measurements, manipulation experiments, synthesis, and modeling to test current theories on ecosystem structure and function. Data collection is focused on meteorology and physical and biological dimensions of soils, streams, lakes, glaciers, and permafrost. The long-term measurements show that biological communities have adapted to the seasonally cold, dark, and arid conditions that prevail for all but a short period in the austral summer. Physical (climate and geological) drivers impart a dynamic connectivity among portions of the Dry Valley landscape over seasonal to millennial time scales. For instance, lakes and soils have been connected through cycles of lake-level rise and fall over the past 20,000 years while streams connect glaciers to lakes over seasonal time scales. Overlaid upon this physical system are biotic communities that are structured by the environment and by the movement of individual organisms within and between the glaciers, streams, lakes, and soils. The new work to be conducted at the McMurdo LTER site will explore how the layers of connectivity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys influence ecosystem structure and function. This project will test the hypothesis that increased ecological connectivity following enhanced melt conditions within the McMurdo Dry Valleys ecosystem will amplify exchange of biota, energy, and matter, homogenizing ecosystem structure and functioning. This hypothesis will be tested with new and continuing experiments that examine: 1) how climate variation alters connectivity among landscape units, and 2) how biota are connected across a heterogeneous landscape using state-of-the-science tools and methods including automated sensor networks, analysis of seasonal satellite imagery, biogeochemical analyses, and next-generation sequencing. McMurdo LTER education programs and outreach activities will be continued, and expanded with new programs associated with the 200th anniversary of the first recorded sightings of Antarctica. These activities will advance societal understanding of how polar ecosystems respond to change. McMurdo LTER will continue its mission of training and mentoring students, postdocs, and early career scientists as the next generation of leaders in polar ecosystem science, and lead the development of international environmental stewardship protocols for human activities in the region.
Personnel
Person Role
Gooseff, Michael N. Investigator and contact
Takacs-Vesbach, Cristina Co-Investigator
Howkins, Adrian Co-Investigator
McKnight, Diane Co-Investigator
Doran, Peter Co-Investigator
Adams, Byron Co-Investigator
Barrett, John Co-Investigator
Morgan-Kiss, Rachael Co-Investigator
Priscu, John Co-Investigator
Funding
Antarctic Integrated System Science Award # 1637708
AMD - DIF Record(s)
Data Management Plan
None in the Database
Product Level:
0 (raw data)
Datasets
Repository Title (link) Format(s) Status
LTER McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER Data Repository None exist
EDI EDI Data Portal: McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER None exists
Publications
  1. Li, W., & Morgan-Kiss, R. M. (2019). Influence of Environmental Drivers and Potential Interactions on the Distribution of Microbial Communities From Three Permanently Stratified Antarctic Lakes. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10. (doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01067)
  2. Trout‐Haney, J. V., Heindel, R. C., & Virginia, R. A. (2020). Picocyanobacterial cells in near‐surface air above terrestrial and freshwater substrates in Greenland and Antarctica. Environmental Microbiology Reports. (doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12832)
  3. Bergstrom, A., Gooseff, M. N., Myers, M., Doran, P. T., & Cross, J. M. (2020). The seasonal evolution of albedo across glaciers and the surrounding landscape of Taylor Valley, Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 14(3), 769–788. (doi:10.5194/tc-14-769-2020)
  4. Bergstrom, A., Gooseff, M., Myers, M., & Doran, P. T. (2019). The seasonal evolution of albedo across glaciers and the surrounding landscape of the Taylor Valley, Antarctica. (doi:10.5194/tc-2019-146)
  5. Obryk, M. K., Doran, P. T., & Priscu, J. C. (2019). Prediction of Ice‐Free Conditions for a Perennially Ice‐Covered Antarctic Lake. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 124(2), 686–694. (doi:10.1029/2018jf004756)
  6. Cook, G., Teufel, A., Kalra, I., Li, W., Wang, X., Priscu, J., & Morgan-Kiss, R. (2019). The Antarctic psychrophiles Chlamydomonas spp. UWO241 and ICE-MDV exhibit differential restructuring of photosystem I in response to iron. Photosynthesis Research, 141(2), 209–228. (doi:10.1007/s11120-019-00621-0)
  7. Raymond, J. A., Morgan-Kiss, R., & Stahl-Rommel, S. (2020). Glycerol Is an Osmoprotectant in Two Antarctic Chlamydomonas Species From an Ice-Covered Saline Lake and Is Synthesized by an Unusual Bidomain Enzyme. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11. (doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.01259)
  8. Obryk, M. K., Doran, P. T., Fountain, A. G., Myers, M., & McKay, C. P. (2020). Climate From the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, 1986–2017: Surface Air Temperature Trends and Redefined Summer Season. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125(13). (doi:10.1029/2019jd032180)
  9. Myers, M. E., Doran, P. T., & Myers, K. F. (2020). Summer valley-floor snowfall in Taylor Valley, Antarctica from 1995–2017. (doi:10.5194/tc-2020-203)
  10. Collins, G. E., Hogg, I. D., Convey, P., Sancho, L. G., Cowan, D. A., Lyons, W. B., … Green, T. G. A. (2020). Genetic diversity of soil invertebrates corroborates timing estimates for past collapses of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 202007925. (doi:10.1073/pnas.2007925117)
  11. Kalra, I., Wang, X., Cvetkovska, M., Jeong, J., McHargue, W., Zhang, R., … Morgan-Kiss, R. (2020). Chlamydomonas sp. UWO 241 Exhibits High Cyclic Electron Flow and Rewired Metabolism under High Salinity. Plant Physiology, 183(2), 588–601. (doi:10.1104/pp.19.01280)
  12. Li, W., Dore, J. E., Steigmeyer, A. J., Cho, Y., Kim, O., Liu, Y., … Priscu, J. C. (2019). Methane production in the oxygenated water column of a perennially ice‐covered Antarctic lake. Limnology and Oceanography, 65(1), 143–156. (doi:10.1002/lno.11257)
  13. Lumian, J. E., Jungblut, A. D., Dillion, M. L., Hawes, I., Doran, P. T., Mackey, T. J., … Sumner, D. Y. (2021). Metabolic Capacity of the Antarctic Cyanobacterium Phormidium pseudopriestleyi That Sustains Oxygenic Photosynthesis in the Presence of Hydrogen Sulfide. Genes, 12(3), 426. (doi:10.3390/genes12030426)
  14. Dillon, M. L., Hawes, I., Jungblut, A. D., Mackey, T. J., Eisen, J. A., Doran, P. T., & Sumner, D. Y. (2020). Energetic and Environmental Constraints on the Community Structure of Benthic Microbial Mats in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 96(2). (doi:10.1093/femsec/fiz207)
  15. See http://mcm.lternet.edu/biblio
  16. Myers, K. F., Doran, P. T., Tulaczyk, S. M., Foley, N. T., Bording, T. S., Auken, E., … Virginia, R. A. (2020). Thermal legacy of a large paleolake in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica as evidenced by an airborne electromagnetic survey. (doi:10.5194/tc-2020-241)
  17. Power, S. N., Salvatore, M. R., Sokol, E. R., Stanish, L. F., & Barrett, J. E. (2020). Estimating microbial mat biomass in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica using satellite imagery and ground surveys. Polar Biology. (doi:10.1007/s00300-020-02742-y)
  18. Sokol, E. R., Barrett, J. E., Kohler, T. J., McKnight, D. M., Salvatore, M. R., & Stanish, L. F. (2020). Evaluating Alternative Metacommunity Hypotheses for Diatoms in the McMurdo Dry Valleys Using Simulations and Remote Sensing Data. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 8. (doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.521668)
  19. Bergstrom, A., Gooseff, M. N., Singley, J. G., Cohen, M. J., & Welch, K. A. (2020). Nutrient Uptake in the Supraglacial Stream Network of an Antarctic Glacier. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 125(9). (doi:10.1029/2020jg005679)
  20. Santibáñez, P. A., Michaud, A. B., Vick‐Majors, T. J., D’Andrilli, J., Chiuchiolo, A., Hand, K. P., & Priscu, J. C. (2019). Differential Incorporation of Bacteria, Organic Matter, and Inorganic Ions Into Lake Ice During Ice Formation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 124(3), 585–600. (doi:10.1029/2018jg004825)
  21. Myers, K. F., Doran, P. T., Tulaczyk, S. M., Foley, N. T., Bording, T. S., Auken, E., … Virginia, R. A. (2021). Thermal legacy of a large paleolake in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica, as evidenced by an airborne electromagnetic survey. The Cryosphere, 15(8), 3577–3593. (doi:10.5194/tc-15-3577-2021)
  22. Bergstrom, A., Gooseff, M., Fountain, A., & Hoffman, M. (2021). Long‐term shifts in feedbacks among glacier surface change, melt generation and runoff, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Hydrological Processes, 35(8). (doi:10.1002/hyp.14292)
  23. Thompson, A. R., Roth-Monzón, A. J., Aanderud, Z. T., & Adams, B. J. (2021). Phagotrophic Protists and Their Associates: Evidence for Preferential Grazing in an Abiotically Driven Soil Ecosystem. Microorganisms, 9(8), 1555. (doi:10.3390/microorganisms9081555)
  24. Thompson, A. R., Geisen, S., & Adams, B. J. (2020). Shotgun metagenomics reveal a diverse assemblage of protists in a model Antarctic soil ecosystem. Environmental Microbiology, 22(11), 4620–4632. (doi:10.1111/1462-2920.15198)
  25. Chignell, S. M., Myers, M. E., Howkins, A., & Fountain, A. G. (2021). Research sites get closer to field camps over time: Informing environmental management through a geospatial analysis of science in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. PLOS ONE, 16(11), e0257950. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0257950)
  26. Singley, J. G., Gooseff, M. N., McKnight, D. M., & Hinckley, E. S. (2021). The Role of Hyporheic Connectivity in Determining Nitrogen Availability: Insights From an Intermittent Antarctic Stream. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 126(5). (doi:10.1029/2021jg006309)
  27. Iwaniec, D. M., Gooseff, M., Suding, K. N., Samuel Johnson, D., Reed, D. C., Peters, D. P. C., … Vivoni, E. R. (2021). Connectivity: insights from the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network. Ecosphere, 12(5). (doi:10.1002/ecs2.3432)
  28. Hüner, N. P. A., Smith, D. R., Cvetkovska, M., Zhang, X., Ivanov, A. G., Szyszka-Mroz, B., … Morgan-Kiss, R. (2022). Photosynthetic adaptation to polar life: Energy balance, photoprotection and genetic redundancy. Journal of Plant Physiology, 268, 153557. (doi:10.1016/j.jplph.2021.153557)
  29. Dragone, N. B., Henley, J. B., Holland-Moritz, H., Diaz, M., Hogg, I. D., Lyons, W. B., … Fierer, N. (2022). Elevational Constraints on the Composition and Genomic Attributes of Microbial Communities in Antarctic Soils. mSystems. (doi:10.1128/msystems.01330-21)
  30. Antonello, A., & Howkins, A. (2020). The rise of technocratic environmentalism: the United States, Antarctica, and the globalisation of the environmental impact statement. Journal of Historical Geography, 68, 55–64. (doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2020.03.004)
  31. Torrens, C. L., Gooseff, M. N., & McKnight, D. M. (2022). Dissolved Organic Carbon Chemostasis in Antarctic Polar Desert Streams. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 127(7). Portico. (doi:10.1029/2021jg006649)
  32. Hudson, A. R., Peters, D. P. C., Blair, J. M., Childers, D. L., Doran, P. T., Geil, K., Gooseff, M., Gross, K. L., Haddad, N. M., Pastore, M. A., Rudgers, J. A., Sala, O., Seabloom, E. W., & Shaver, G. (2022). Cross-Site Comparisons of Dryland Ecosystem Response to Climate Change in the US Long-Term Ecological Research Network. BioScience, 72(9), 889–907. (doi:10.1093/biosci/biab134)
  33. Bergstrom, A., Welch, K. A., & Gooseff, M. N. (2023). Spatial Patterns of Major Ions and Their Relationship to Sediment Concentration in Near Surface Glacier Ice, Taylor Valley Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 128(3). Portico. (doi:10.1029/2022jf006980)
  34. Michaud, A. B., & Priscu, J. C. (2023). Sediment oxygen consumption in Antarctic subglacial environments. Limnology and Oceanography. Portico. (doi:10.1002/lno.12366)
  35. Power, S. N., Thomas, V. A., Salvatore, M. R., & Barrett, J. E. (2024). Habitat suitability of biocrust communities in a cold desert ecosystem. Ecology and Evolution, 14(7). Portico. (doi:10.1002/ece3.11649)
  36. Barrett, J. E., Adams, B. J., Doran, P. T., Dugan, H. A., Myers, K. F., Salvatore, M. R., Power, S. N., Snyder, M. D., Wright, A. T., & Gooseff, M. N. (2024). Response of a Terrestrial Polar Ecosystem to the March 2022 Antarctic Weather Anomaly. Earth’s Future, 12(8). Portico. (doi:10.1029/2023ef004306)
Platforms and Instruments

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