Soils of two Antarctic Dry Valleys exhibit unique microbial community structures in response to similar environmental disturbances ...

Abstract Background Isolating the effects of deterministic variables (e.g., physicochemical conditions) on soil microbial communities from those of neutral processes (e.g., dispersal) remains a major challenge in microbial ecology. In this study, we disturbed soil microbial communities of two McMurd...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Baptista, Mafalda S., Lee, Charles K., Monteiro, Maria R., Torgo, Luís, Cary, S. Craig, Magalhães, Catarina
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: figshare 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.7368892
https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Soils_of_two_Antarctic_Dry_Valleys_exhibit_unique_microbial_community_structures_in_response_to_similar_environmental_disturbances/7368892
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Summary:Abstract Background Isolating the effects of deterministic variables (e.g., physicochemical conditions) on soil microbial communities from those of neutral processes (e.g., dispersal) remains a major challenge in microbial ecology. In this study, we disturbed soil microbial communities of two McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica exhibiting distinct microbial biogeographic patterns, both devoid of aboveground biota and different in macro- and micro-physicochemical conditions. We modified the availability of water, nitrogen, carbon, copper ions, and sodium chloride salts in a laboratory-based experiment and monitored the microbial communities for up to two months. Our aim was to mimic a likely scenario in the near future, in which similar selective pressures will be applied to both valleys. We hypothesized that, given their unique microbial communities, the two valleys would select for different microbial populations when subjected to the same disturbances. Results The two soil microbial communities, subjected to ...