Soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystem
An anomalous warm weather event in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys on 18 March 2022 created an opportunity to characterize soil biota communities most sensitive to freeze–thaw stress. This event caused unseasonal melt within Taylor Valley, activating stream water and microbial mats around Canada S...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2025.2485283 |
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| author | Meredith D. Snyder Byron J. Adams Abigail Borgmeier Jesse Jorna Sarah N. Power Mark R. Salvatore John. E. Barrett |
| author_facet | Meredith D. Snyder Byron J. Adams Abigail Borgmeier Jesse Jorna Sarah N. Power Mark R. Salvatore John. E. Barrett |
| author_sort | Meredith D. Snyder |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An anomalous warm weather event in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys on 18 March 2022 created an opportunity to characterize soil biota communities most sensitive to freeze–thaw stress. This event caused unseasonal melt within Taylor Valley, activating stream water and microbial mats around Canada Stream. Liquid water availability in this polar desert is a driver of soil biota distribution and activity. Because climate change impacts hydrological regimes, we aimed to determine the effect on soil communities. We sampled soils identified from this event that experienced thaw, nearby hyper-arid areas, and wetted areas that did not experience thaw to compare soil bacterial and invertebrate communities. Areas that exhibited evidence of freeze–thaw supported the highest live and dead nematode counts and were composed of soil taxa from hyper-arid landscapes and wetted areas. They received water inputs from snowpacks, hyporheic water, or glacial melt, contributing to community differences associated with organic matter and salinity gradients. Inundated soils had higher organic matter and lower conductivity (p < .02) and hosted the most diverse microbial and invertebrate communities on average. Our findings suggest that as liquid water becomes more available under predicted climate change, soil communities adapted to the hyper-arid landscape will shift toward diverse, wetted soil communities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-29e48ff4b34a44e785108b6bf37dda41 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1523-0430 1938-4246 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-29e48ff4b34a44e785108b6bf37dda412025-08-20T01:48:15ZengTaylor & Francis GroupArctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research1523-04301938-42462025-12-0157110.1080/15230430.2025.2485283Soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystemMeredith D. Snyder0Byron J. Adams1Abigail Borgmeier2Jesse Jorna3Sarah N. Power4Mark R. Salvatore5John. E. Barrett6Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USADepartment of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USADepartment of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USADepartment of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USADepartment of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USAAn anomalous warm weather event in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys on 18 March 2022 created an opportunity to characterize soil biota communities most sensitive to freeze–thaw stress. This event caused unseasonal melt within Taylor Valley, activating stream water and microbial mats around Canada Stream. Liquid water availability in this polar desert is a driver of soil biota distribution and activity. Because climate change impacts hydrological regimes, we aimed to determine the effect on soil communities. We sampled soils identified from this event that experienced thaw, nearby hyper-arid areas, and wetted areas that did not experience thaw to compare soil bacterial and invertebrate communities. Areas that exhibited evidence of freeze–thaw supported the highest live and dead nematode counts and were composed of soil taxa from hyper-arid landscapes and wetted areas. They received water inputs from snowpacks, hyporheic water, or glacial melt, contributing to community differences associated with organic matter and salinity gradients. Inundated soils had higher organic matter and lower conductivity (p < .02) and hosted the most diverse microbial and invertebrate communities on average. Our findings suggest that as liquid water becomes more available under predicted climate change, soil communities adapted to the hyper-arid landscape will shift toward diverse, wetted soil communities.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2025.2485283Climate variationextreme weathersoil invertebratesMcMurdo Dry Valleysmicrobial community |
| spellingShingle | Meredith D. Snyder Byron J. Adams Abigail Borgmeier Jesse Jorna Sarah N. Power Mark R. Salvatore John. E. Barrett Soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystem Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research Climate variation extreme weather soil invertebrates McMurdo Dry Valleys microbial community |
| title | Soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystem |
| title_full | Soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystem |
| title_fullStr | Soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystem |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystem |
| title_short | Soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystem |
| title_sort | soil biota sensitivity to hydroclimate variability in a polar desert ecosystem |
| topic | Climate variation extreme weather soil invertebrates McMurdo Dry Valleys microbial community |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2025.2485283 |
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