Response of a Terrestrial Polar Ecosystem to the March 2022 Antarctic Weather Anomaly

• Published in: Earth's Future
• Main Authors: Barrett, John E., Adams, Byron J., Doran, Peter T., Dugan, Hilary A., Myers, Krista F., Salvatore, Mark R., Power, Sarah N., Snyder, Meredith D., Wright, Anna T., Gooseff, Michael N.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 2024
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctica; McMurdo Dry Valleys
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10919/120896; https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EF004306

Record high temperatures were documented in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, on 18 March 2022, exceeding average temperatures for that day by nearly 30°C. Satellite imagery and stream gage measurements indicate that surface wetting coincided with this warming more than 2 months after peak summer thaw and likely exceeded thresholds for rehydration and activation of resident organisms that typically survive the cold and dry conditions of the polar fall in a freezedried state. This weather event is notable in both the timing and magnitude of the warming and wetting when temperatures exceeded 0°C at a time when biological communities and streams have typically entered a persistent frozen state. Such events may be a harbinger of future climate conditions characterized by warmer temperatures and greater thaw in this region of Antarctica, which could influence the distribution, activity, and abundance of sentinel taxa. Here we describe the ecosystem responses to this weather anomaly reporting on meteorological and hydrological measurements across the region and on later biological observations from Canada Stream, one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems within the McMurdo Dry Valleys. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grants 2046260, 1744785, 1637708, and 1027284) and Antarctic Support Associates, Leidos. Published version