Gullies and Moraines Are Islands of Biodiversity in an Arid, Mountain Landscape, Asgard Range, Antarctica
Cold, dry, and nutrient-poor, the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are among the most extreme terrestrial environments on Earth. Numerous studies have described microbial communities of low elevation soils and streams below glaciers, while less is known about microbial communities in higher elevati...
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2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135 https://doaj.org/article/07419b387fa0491cb10fcb88c5b70c14 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:07419b387fa0491cb10fcb88c5b70c14 2023-05-15T13:33:53+02:00 Gullies and Moraines Are Islands of Biodiversity in an Arid, Mountain Landscape, Asgard Range, Antarctica Adam J. Solon Claire Mastrangelo Lara Vimercati Pacifica Sommers John L. Darcy Eli M. S. Gendron Dorota L. Porazinska S. K. Schmidt 2021-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135 https://doaj.org/article/07419b387fa0491cb10fcb88c5b70c14 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135 https://doaj.org/article/07419b387fa0491cb10fcb88c5b70c14 Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 12 (2021) cold deserts gullies microbial oases extremophiles biological soil crusts Bryum Microbiology QR1-502 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135 2022-12-31T06:56:32Z Cold, dry, and nutrient-poor, the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are among the most extreme terrestrial environments on Earth. Numerous studies have described microbial communities of low elevation soils and streams below glaciers, while less is known about microbial communities in higher elevation soils above glaciers. We characterized microbial life in four landscape features (habitats) of a mountain in Taylor Valley. These habitats varied significantly in soil moisture and include moist soils of a (1) lateral glacial moraine, (2) gully that terminates at the moraine, and very dry soils on (3) a southeastern slope and (4) dry sites near the gully. Using rRNA gene PCR amplicon sequencing of Bacteria and Archaea (16S SSU) and eukaryotes (18S SSU), we found that all habitat types harbored significantly different bacterial and eukaryotic communities and that these differences were most apparent when comparing habitats that had macroscopically visible soil crusts (gully and moraine) to habitats with no visible crusts (near gully and slope). These differences were driven by a relative predominance of Actinobacteria and a Colpodella sp. in non-crust habitats, and by phototrophic bacteria and eukaryotes (e.g., a moss) and predators (e.g., tardigrades) in habitats with biological soil crusts (gully and moraine). The gully and moraine also had significantly higher 16S and 18S ESV richness than the other two habitat types. We further found that many of the phototrophic bacteria and eukaryotes of the gully and moraine share high sequence identity with phototrophs from moist and wet areas elsewhere in the Dry Valleys and other cold desert ecosystems. These include a Moss (Bryum sp.), several algae (e.g., a Chlorococcum sp.) and cyanobacteria (e.g., Nostoc and Phormidium spp.). Overall, the results reported here broaden the diversity of habitat types that have been studied in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and suggest future avenues of research to more definitively understand the biogeography and factors controlling ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) The Gully ENVELOPE(-57.731,-57.731,51.567,51.567) Asgard Range ENVELOPE(161.500,161.500,-77.617,-77.617) Frontiers in Microbiology 12 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
cold deserts gullies microbial oases extremophiles biological soil crusts Bryum Microbiology QR1-502 |
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cold deserts gullies microbial oases extremophiles biological soil crusts Bryum Microbiology QR1-502 Adam J. Solon Claire Mastrangelo Lara Vimercati Pacifica Sommers John L. Darcy Eli M. S. Gendron Dorota L. Porazinska S. K. Schmidt Gullies and Moraines Are Islands of Biodiversity in an Arid, Mountain Landscape, Asgard Range, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
cold deserts gullies microbial oases extremophiles biological soil crusts Bryum Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Cold, dry, and nutrient-poor, the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are among the most extreme terrestrial environments on Earth. Numerous studies have described microbial communities of low elevation soils and streams below glaciers, while less is known about microbial communities in higher elevation soils above glaciers. We characterized microbial life in four landscape features (habitats) of a mountain in Taylor Valley. These habitats varied significantly in soil moisture and include moist soils of a (1) lateral glacial moraine, (2) gully that terminates at the moraine, and very dry soils on (3) a southeastern slope and (4) dry sites near the gully. Using rRNA gene PCR amplicon sequencing of Bacteria and Archaea (16S SSU) and eukaryotes (18S SSU), we found that all habitat types harbored significantly different bacterial and eukaryotic communities and that these differences were most apparent when comparing habitats that had macroscopically visible soil crusts (gully and moraine) to habitats with no visible crusts (near gully and slope). These differences were driven by a relative predominance of Actinobacteria and a Colpodella sp. in non-crust habitats, and by phototrophic bacteria and eukaryotes (e.g., a moss) and predators (e.g., tardigrades) in habitats with biological soil crusts (gully and moraine). The gully and moraine also had significantly higher 16S and 18S ESV richness than the other two habitat types. We further found that many of the phototrophic bacteria and eukaryotes of the gully and moraine share high sequence identity with phototrophs from moist and wet areas elsewhere in the Dry Valleys and other cold desert ecosystems. These include a Moss (Bryum sp.), several algae (e.g., a Chlorococcum sp.) and cyanobacteria (e.g., Nostoc and Phormidium spp.). Overall, the results reported here broaden the diversity of habitat types that have been studied in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and suggest future avenues of research to more definitively understand the biogeography and factors controlling ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Adam J. Solon Claire Mastrangelo Lara Vimercati Pacifica Sommers John L. Darcy Eli M. S. Gendron Dorota L. Porazinska S. K. Schmidt |
author_facet |
Adam J. Solon Claire Mastrangelo Lara Vimercati Pacifica Sommers John L. Darcy Eli M. S. Gendron Dorota L. Porazinska S. K. Schmidt |
author_sort |
Adam J. Solon |
title |
Gullies and Moraines Are Islands of Biodiversity in an Arid, Mountain Landscape, Asgard Range, Antarctica |
title_short |
Gullies and Moraines Are Islands of Biodiversity in an Arid, Mountain Landscape, Asgard Range, Antarctica |
title_full |
Gullies and Moraines Are Islands of Biodiversity in an Arid, Mountain Landscape, Asgard Range, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Gullies and Moraines Are Islands of Biodiversity in an Arid, Mountain Landscape, Asgard Range, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Gullies and Moraines Are Islands of Biodiversity in an Arid, Mountain Landscape, Asgard Range, Antarctica |
title_sort |
gullies and moraines are islands of biodiversity in an arid, mountain landscape, asgard range, antarctica |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135 https://doaj.org/article/07419b387fa0491cb10fcb88c5b70c14 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) ENVELOPE(-57.731,-57.731,51.567,51.567) ENVELOPE(161.500,161.500,-77.617,-77.617) |
geographic |
McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley The Gully Asgard Range |
geographic_facet |
McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley The Gully Asgard Range |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 12 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135 https://doaj.org/article/07419b387fa0491cb10fcb88c5b70c14 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.654135 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
12 |
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1766046753362018304 |