Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys
The extreme cold and aridity of the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys have led to the longstanding belief that metabolic rates of soil microbiota are negligible, and that ecosystem changes take place over millennia. Here we report the first direct experimental evidence that soil microbial communities un...
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ftunivwaikato:oai:researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz:10289/7498 2024-01-28T10:00:13+01:00 Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys Tiao, Grace Lee, Charles Kai-Wu McDonald, Ian R. Cowan, Don A. Cary, S. Craig England 2012 https://hdl.handle.net/10289/7498 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1645 en eng Nature Publishing Group Nature Communications Tiao, G., Lee, C. K., McDonald, I. R., Cowan, D. A., & Cary, S. C. (2012). Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys. Nature Communications, 3, 660. 2041-1723 https://hdl.handle.net/10289/7498 doi:10.1038/ncomms1645 Journal Article 2012 ftunivwaikato https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1645 2024-01-02T18:25:26Z The extreme cold and aridity of the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys have led to the longstanding belief that metabolic rates of soil microbiota are negligible, and that ecosystem changes take place over millennia. Here we report the first direct experimental evidence that soil microbial communities undergo rapid and lasting changes in response to contemporary environmental conditions. Mummified seals, curious natural artifacts found scattered throughout Dry Valleys, alter their underlying soil environment by stabilizing temperatures, elevating relative humidity and reducing ultraviolet exposure. In a unique, multi-year mummified seal transplantation experiment, we found that endemic Dry Valley microbial communities responded to these changes within 3 years, resulting in a sevenfold increase in CO2 flux and a significant reduction in biodiversity. These findings challenge prevailing ideas about Antarctic Dry Valley ecosystems and indicate that current and future environmental conditions may strongly influence the ecology of the dominant biota in the Dry Valleys. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys The University of Waikato: Research Commons Antarctic The Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys Nature Communications 3 1 |
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Open Polar |
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The University of Waikato: Research Commons |
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ftunivwaikato |
language |
English |
description |
The extreme cold and aridity of the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys have led to the longstanding belief that metabolic rates of soil microbiota are negligible, and that ecosystem changes take place over millennia. Here we report the first direct experimental evidence that soil microbial communities undergo rapid and lasting changes in response to contemporary environmental conditions. Mummified seals, curious natural artifacts found scattered throughout Dry Valleys, alter their underlying soil environment by stabilizing temperatures, elevating relative humidity and reducing ultraviolet exposure. In a unique, multi-year mummified seal transplantation experiment, we found that endemic Dry Valley microbial communities responded to these changes within 3 years, resulting in a sevenfold increase in CO2 flux and a significant reduction in biodiversity. These findings challenge prevailing ideas about Antarctic Dry Valley ecosystems and indicate that current and future environmental conditions may strongly influence the ecology of the dominant biota in the Dry Valleys. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tiao, Grace Lee, Charles Kai-Wu McDonald, Ian R. Cowan, Don A. Cary, S. Craig |
spellingShingle |
Tiao, Grace Lee, Charles Kai-Wu McDonald, Ian R. Cowan, Don A. Cary, S. Craig Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys |
author_facet |
Tiao, Grace Lee, Charles Kai-Wu McDonald, Ian R. Cowan, Don A. Cary, S. Craig |
author_sort |
Tiao, Grace |
title |
Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys |
title_short |
Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys |
title_full |
Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys |
title_fullStr |
Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys |
title_sort |
rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the antarctic dry valleys |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10289/7498 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1645 |
op_coverage |
England |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys |
op_relation |
Nature Communications Tiao, G., Lee, C. K., McDonald, I. R., Cowan, D. A., & Cary, S. C. (2012). Rapid microbial response to the presence of an ancient relic in the Antarctic Dry Valleys. Nature Communications, 3, 660. 2041-1723 https://hdl.handle.net/10289/7498 doi:10.1038/ncomms1645 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1645 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1789340481109360640 |