Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity
Ice-free soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys select for taxa able to cope with challenging environmental conditions, including extreme chemical water activity gradients, freeze-thaw cycling, desiccation, and solar radiation regimes. The low biotic complexity of Dry Valley soils makes them well suited t...
Published in: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730 https://doaj.org/article/216ea186fec5481097345c62fe78bdc9 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:216ea186fec5481097345c62fe78bdc9 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:216ea186fec5481097345c62fe78bdc9 2023-05-15T13:54:00+02:00 Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity Scott F. George Noah Fierer Joseph S. Levy Byron Adams 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730 https://doaj.org/article/216ea186fec5481097345c62fe78bdc9 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730 https://doaj.org/article/216ea186fec5481097345c62fe78bdc9 Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 12 (2021) Antarctica Mars analog water tracks microbial ecology extremophiles Microbiology QR1-502 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730 2022-12-31T15:13:45Z Ice-free soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys select for taxa able to cope with challenging environmental conditions, including extreme chemical water activity gradients, freeze-thaw cycling, desiccation, and solar radiation regimes. The low biotic complexity of Dry Valley soils makes them well suited to investigate environmental and spatial influences on bacterial community structure. Water tracks are annually wetted habitats in the cold-arid soils of Antarctica that form briefly each summer with moisture sourced from snow melt, ground ice thaw, and atmospheric deposition via deliquescence and vapor flow into brines. Compared to neighboring arid soils, water tracks are highly saline and relatively moist habitats. They represent a considerable area (∼5–10 km2) of the Dry Valley terrestrial ecosystem, an area that is expected to increase with ongoing climate change. The goal of this study was to determine how variation in the environmental conditions of water tracks influences the composition and diversity of microbial communities. We found significant differences in microbial community composition between on- and off-water track samples, and across two distinct locations. Of the tested environmental variables, soil salinity was the best predictor of community composition, with members of the Bacteroidetes phylum being relatively more abundant at higher salinities and the Actinobacteria phylum showing the opposite pattern. There was also a significant, inverse relationship between salinity and bacterial diversity. Our results suggest water track formation significantly alters dry soil microbial communities, likely influencing subsequent ecosystem functioning. We highlight how Dry Valley water tracks could be a useful model system for understanding the potential habitability of transiently wetted environments found on the surface of Mars. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys Frontiers in Microbiology 12 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica Mars analog water tracks microbial ecology extremophiles Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica Mars analog water tracks microbial ecology extremophiles Microbiology QR1-502 Scott F. George Noah Fierer Joseph S. Levy Byron Adams Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity |
topic_facet |
Antarctica Mars analog water tracks microbial ecology extremophiles Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Ice-free soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys select for taxa able to cope with challenging environmental conditions, including extreme chemical water activity gradients, freeze-thaw cycling, desiccation, and solar radiation regimes. The low biotic complexity of Dry Valley soils makes them well suited to investigate environmental and spatial influences on bacterial community structure. Water tracks are annually wetted habitats in the cold-arid soils of Antarctica that form briefly each summer with moisture sourced from snow melt, ground ice thaw, and atmospheric deposition via deliquescence and vapor flow into brines. Compared to neighboring arid soils, water tracks are highly saline and relatively moist habitats. They represent a considerable area (∼5–10 km2) of the Dry Valley terrestrial ecosystem, an area that is expected to increase with ongoing climate change. The goal of this study was to determine how variation in the environmental conditions of water tracks influences the composition and diversity of microbial communities. We found significant differences in microbial community composition between on- and off-water track samples, and across two distinct locations. Of the tested environmental variables, soil salinity was the best predictor of community composition, with members of the Bacteroidetes phylum being relatively more abundant at higher salinities and the Actinobacteria phylum showing the opposite pattern. There was also a significant, inverse relationship between salinity and bacterial diversity. Our results suggest water track formation significantly alters dry soil microbial communities, likely influencing subsequent ecosystem functioning. We highlight how Dry Valley water tracks could be a useful model system for understanding the potential habitability of transiently wetted environments found on the surface of Mars. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Scott F. George Noah Fierer Joseph S. Levy Byron Adams |
author_facet |
Scott F. George Noah Fierer Joseph S. Levy Byron Adams |
author_sort |
Scott F. George |
title |
Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity |
title_short |
Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity |
title_full |
Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic Water Tracks: Microbial Community Responses to Variation in Soil Moisture, pH, and Salinity |
title_sort |
antarctic water tracks: microbial community responses to variation in soil moisture, ph, and salinity |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730 https://doaj.org/article/216ea186fec5481097345c62fe78bdc9 |
geographic |
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 12 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730 https://doaj.org/article/216ea186fec5481097345c62fe78bdc9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.616730 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
12 |
_version_ |
1766259504538714112 |