Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region
Abstract Biological soil crusts are associations of lichens, mosses, algae, cyanobacteria, microfungi and bacteria in different proportions forming a thin veneer within the top centimetres of soil surfaces. They occur in all biomes, but particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, even in the most ex...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000291 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102013000291 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102013000291 2024-06-23T07:47:38+00:00 Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region Colesie, Claudia Gommeaux, Maxime Green, T.G. Allan Büdel, Burkhard 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000291 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102013000291 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 26, issue 2, page 115-123 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 journal-article 2013 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000291 2024-06-12T04:03:25Z Abstract Biological soil crusts are associations of lichens, mosses, algae, cyanobacteria, microfungi and bacteria in different proportions forming a thin veneer within the top centimetres of soil surfaces. They occur in all biomes, but particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, even in the most extreme climates. They carry out crucial ecosystem functions, such as soil stabilization, influencing water and nutrient cycles, and contribute to the formation of microniches for heterotrophic life. In continental Antarctica especially, these roles are essential because no higher plants provide such ecosystem services. We provide a detailed description of biological soil crusts from Garwood Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys region (78°S) and Diamond Hill (80°S) in the Darwin Mountains region. The coverage was low at 3.3% and 0.8% of the soil surface. At Garwood Valley the crusts were composed of green algal lichens, cyanobacteria, several species of green algae and the moss Hennediella heimii (Hedw.) R.H. Zander. Diamond Hill crusts appear to be unique in not having any species of cyanobacteria. Major parts are embedded in the soil, and their thickness correlates with higher chlorophyll contents, higher soil organic carbon and nitrogen, which are fundamental components of this species poor cold desert zone. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Victoria Land Cambridge University Press Darwin Mountains ENVELOPE(156.250,156.250,-79.850,-79.850) Diamond Hill ENVELOPE(159.083,159.083,-79.867,-79.867) Garwood ENVELOPE(164.283,164.283,-78.033,-78.033) Garwood Valley ENVELOPE(164.167,164.167,-78.033,-78.033) McMurdo Dry Valleys Victoria Land Antarctic Science 26 2 115 123 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Biological soil crusts are associations of lichens, mosses, algae, cyanobacteria, microfungi and bacteria in different proportions forming a thin veneer within the top centimetres of soil surfaces. They occur in all biomes, but particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, even in the most extreme climates. They carry out crucial ecosystem functions, such as soil stabilization, influencing water and nutrient cycles, and contribute to the formation of microniches for heterotrophic life. In continental Antarctica especially, these roles are essential because no higher plants provide such ecosystem services. We provide a detailed description of biological soil crusts from Garwood Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys region (78°S) and Diamond Hill (80°S) in the Darwin Mountains region. The coverage was low at 3.3% and 0.8% of the soil surface. At Garwood Valley the crusts were composed of green algal lichens, cyanobacteria, several species of green algae and the moss Hennediella heimii (Hedw.) R.H. Zander. Diamond Hill crusts appear to be unique in not having any species of cyanobacteria. Major parts are embedded in the soil, and their thickness correlates with higher chlorophyll contents, higher soil organic carbon and nitrogen, which are fundamental components of this species poor cold desert zone. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Colesie, Claudia Gommeaux, Maxime Green, T.G. Allan Büdel, Burkhard |
spellingShingle |
Colesie, Claudia Gommeaux, Maxime Green, T.G. Allan Büdel, Burkhard Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region |
author_facet |
Colesie, Claudia Gommeaux, Maxime Green, T.G. Allan Büdel, Burkhard |
author_sort |
Colesie, Claudia |
title |
Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region |
title_short |
Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region |
title_full |
Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region |
title_fullStr |
Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region |
title_sort |
biological soil crusts in continental antarctica: garwood valley, southern victoria land, and diamond hill, darwin mountains region |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000291 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102013000291 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(156.250,156.250,-79.850,-79.850) ENVELOPE(159.083,159.083,-79.867,-79.867) ENVELOPE(164.283,164.283,-78.033,-78.033) ENVELOPE(164.167,164.167,-78.033,-78.033) |
geographic |
Darwin Mountains Diamond Hill Garwood Garwood Valley McMurdo Dry Valleys Victoria Land |
geographic_facet |
Darwin Mountains Diamond Hill Garwood Garwood Valley McMurdo Dry Valleys Victoria Land |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Victoria Land |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Science Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Victoria Land |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 26, issue 2, page 115-123 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102013000291 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
115 |
op_container_end_page |
123 |
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1802651761140301824 |