The Vestfold Hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in Old Wallow, eastern Antarctica
Old Wallow is an underexplored, hyper-arid coastal desert in Antarctica’s Vestfold Hills. Situated near an elephant seal wallow, we examined how stochastic nutrient inputs from the seal wallow affect soil communities amid environmental changes along a spatially explicit sampling transect. We hypothe...
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2024
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:077e9ec3f54c4c37b2c56e14ae519e0e 2024-10-06T13:42:47+00:00 The Vestfold Hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in Old Wallow, eastern Antarctica Devan S. Chelliah Angelique E. Ray Eden Zhang Aleks Terauds Belinda C. Ferrari 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1443491 https://doaj.org/article/077e9ec3f54c4c37b2c56e14ae519e0e EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1443491/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1443491 https://doaj.org/article/077e9ec3f54c4c37b2c56e14ae519e0e Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 15 (2024) Antarctica soil eukaryotes microbial biodiversity Old Wallow gradient forest Microbiology QR1-502 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1443491 2024-09-25T15:39:11Z Old Wallow is an underexplored, hyper-arid coastal desert in Antarctica’s Vestfold Hills. Situated near an elephant seal wallow, we examined how stochastic nutrient inputs from the seal wallow affect soil communities amid environmental changes along a spatially explicit sampling transect. We hypothesized that nutrient levels would be elevated due to proximity to the seal wallow, influencing community distributions. While the soil bacterial and eukaryotic communities at the phylum level were similar to other terrestrial environments, analysis at class and family levels revealed a dominance of unclassified taxa that are often linked to marine environments. Elevated nutrient concentrations (NO3−, SO42−, SO3) were found at Old Wallow, with conductivity and Cl− levels up to 10-fold higher at the lowest elevation soils, correlating with significantly (p < 0.05) higher abundances of halophilic (Halomonadaceace) and uncultivated lineages (Ca Actinomarinales, unclassified Bacillariophyta and unclassified Opisthonkonta). An improved Gradient Forest model was used to quantify microbial responses to 26 soil gradients at OW, revealing variable responses to environmental predictors and identifying critical environmental thresholds or drivers of community turnover. Major tipping points were projected for eukaryotes with SO42−, pH, and SO3, and for bacteria with moisture, Na2O, and Cl−. Thus, the Old Wallow ecosystem is primarily shaped by salt, sulphate, and moisture and is dominated by uncultivated taxa, which may be sensitive to environmental changes once critical tipping points are reached. This study provides critical baseline data for future regional monitoring under threats of environmental change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Elephant Seal Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Old Wallow ENVELOPE(77.935,77.935,-68.600,-68.600) Vestfold Vestfold Hills Frontiers in Microbiology 15 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica soil eukaryotes microbial biodiversity Old Wallow gradient forest Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica soil eukaryotes microbial biodiversity Old Wallow gradient forest Microbiology QR1-502 Devan S. Chelliah Angelique E. Ray Eden Zhang Aleks Terauds Belinda C. Ferrari The Vestfold Hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in Old Wallow, eastern Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Antarctica soil eukaryotes microbial biodiversity Old Wallow gradient forest Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Old Wallow is an underexplored, hyper-arid coastal desert in Antarctica’s Vestfold Hills. Situated near an elephant seal wallow, we examined how stochastic nutrient inputs from the seal wallow affect soil communities amid environmental changes along a spatially explicit sampling transect. We hypothesized that nutrient levels would be elevated due to proximity to the seal wallow, influencing community distributions. While the soil bacterial and eukaryotic communities at the phylum level were similar to other terrestrial environments, analysis at class and family levels revealed a dominance of unclassified taxa that are often linked to marine environments. Elevated nutrient concentrations (NO3−, SO42−, SO3) were found at Old Wallow, with conductivity and Cl− levels up to 10-fold higher at the lowest elevation soils, correlating with significantly (p < 0.05) higher abundances of halophilic (Halomonadaceace) and uncultivated lineages (Ca Actinomarinales, unclassified Bacillariophyta and unclassified Opisthonkonta). An improved Gradient Forest model was used to quantify microbial responses to 26 soil gradients at OW, revealing variable responses to environmental predictors and identifying critical environmental thresholds or drivers of community turnover. Major tipping points were projected for eukaryotes with SO42−, pH, and SO3, and for bacteria with moisture, Na2O, and Cl−. Thus, the Old Wallow ecosystem is primarily shaped by salt, sulphate, and moisture and is dominated by uncultivated taxa, which may be sensitive to environmental changes once critical tipping points are reached. This study provides critical baseline data for future regional monitoring under threats of environmental change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Devan S. Chelliah Angelique E. Ray Eden Zhang Aleks Terauds Belinda C. Ferrari |
author_facet |
Devan S. Chelliah Angelique E. Ray Eden Zhang Aleks Terauds Belinda C. Ferrari |
author_sort |
Devan S. Chelliah |
title |
The Vestfold Hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in Old Wallow, eastern Antarctica |
title_short |
The Vestfold Hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in Old Wallow, eastern Antarctica |
title_full |
The Vestfold Hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in Old Wallow, eastern Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
The Vestfold Hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in Old Wallow, eastern Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Vestfold Hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in Old Wallow, eastern Antarctica |
title_sort |
vestfold hills are alive: characterising microbial and environmental dynamics in old wallow, eastern antarctica |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1443491 https://doaj.org/article/077e9ec3f54c4c37b2c56e14ae519e0e |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(77.935,77.935,-68.600,-68.600) |
geographic |
Old Wallow Vestfold Vestfold Hills |
geographic_facet |
Old Wallow Vestfold Vestfold Hills |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Elephant Seal |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Elephant Seal |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 15 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1443491/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1443491 https://doaj.org/article/077e9ec3f54c4c37b2c56e14ae519e0e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1443491 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
15 |
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1812177122664382464 |