Pond diatom communities from the McMurdo Sound region of Antarctica, assessed from modern samples (2012-2016) and from historical samples collected during Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition (1908-1909)

• Main Authors: Kohler, Tyler, Cox, Aneliya, Darling, Joshua, Howkins, Adrian, Kopalová, Kateřina, Sokol, Eric, Gooseff, Michael, McKnight, Diane
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Environmental Data Initiative 2021
• Subjects: Austral; McMurdo Dry Valleys; McMurdo Sound; McMurdo Station; Nimrod; Royds; Cape Royds; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/87ed680eb9a1283cea61a55e6bc6e96c; https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?packageid=knb-lter-mcm.9038.1

We performed a field survey to characterize diatom communities living in the benthic microbial mats of ponds across the McMurdo Sound region of Antarctica. Samples were collected during the Austral summers of 2012-13, 2013-14, and 2015-16 from the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Cape Royds, and from Hut Ridge near McMurdo Station. We also characterized pond diatom communities in samples collected on various dates from 1908-1909 during Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition to compare against modern samples. Historical samples were taken from Cape Royds and the Stranded Moraines, and were analyzed from slides stored at the Natural History Museum, London. This data package includes relative abundance data for diatom species found in these modern and historical samples.