Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Decadal ecosystem response to an anomalous melt season in a polar desert in Antarctica

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 1, pages 1334–1338 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Amplified climate change in polar regions is significantly altering regional ecosystems, yet there are few long-term records documenting these responses. The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) cold desert ecosystem is the largest ice-free area of Antarctica, comprising soils, glaciers, meltwater streams and permanently ice-covered lakes. Multi-decadal records indicate that the MDV exhibited a distinct ecosystem response to an uncharacteristic austral summer and ensuing climatic shift. A decadal summer cooling phase ended in 2002 with intense glacial melt (‘flood year’)—a step-change in water availability triggering distinct changes in the ecosystem. Before 2002, the ecosystem exhibited synchronous behaviour: declining stream flow, decreasing lake levels, thickening lake ice cover, decreasing primary production in lakes and streams, and diminishing soil secondary production. Since 2002, summer air temperatures and solar flux have been relatively consistent, leading to lake level rise, lake ice thinning and elevated stream flow. Biological responses varied; one stream cyanobacterial mat type immediately increased production, but another stream mat type, soil invertebrates and lake primary productivity responded asynchronously a few years after 2002. This ecosystem response to a climatic anomaly demonstrates differential biological community responses to substantial perturbations, and the mediation of biological responses to climate change by changes in physical ecosystem properties.

Changes in polar climate elicit strong responses from local ecosystems, whose resident biota are adapted to climate conditions that have been metastable for at least the past few thousand years13. The MDV host relatively simple food webs dominated by prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms and invertebrate species. During the 1987–2000 cooling period, the aquatic and terrestrial habitats in the MDV experienced synchronous decreases in glacial meltwater generation, stream flow, lake levels, lake primary production and soil nematode populations, and increases in lake ice thickness7. These parallel trends indicate that the MDV ecosystem was sensitive to declining summer air temperature throughout this period.

Your institute does not have access to this article

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2: Climate and ecosystem metrics for the MDV.
Fig. 3: Heat maps from SiZer breakpoint analyses for time series data sets for physical and biological variables in Taylor Valley (that is, Fig. 2).

References

  1. Polyakov, I. V. et al. Observationally based assessment of polar amplification of global warming. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29, 24–25 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Schofield, O. et al. How do polar marine ecosystems respond to rapid climate change? Science 328, 1520–1523 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Post, E. et al. Ecological dynamics across the Arctic associated with recent climate change. Science 325, 1355–1358 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. McClintock, J., Ducklow, H. & Fraser, W. Ecological responses to climate change on the Antarctic Peninsula. Am. Sci. 96, 302–310 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hinzman, L. D. et al. Evidence and implications of recent climate change in northern Alaska and other Arctic regions. Clim. Change 72, 251–298 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jia, G. J., Epstein, H. E. & Walker, D. A. Greening of Arctic Alaska, 1981–2001. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, 2067 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Grebmeier, J. & Priscu, J. C. Frontiers in Understanding Climate Change and Polar Ecosystems: Report of a Workshop (National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2011).

  8. Steig, E. J. et al. Warming of the Antarctic ice-sheet surface since the 1957 International Geophysical Year. Nature 457, 459–62 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bromwich, D. H. et al. Central West Antarctica among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth. Nat. Geosci. 6, 139–145 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Chapman, W. L. & Walsh, J. E. A synthesis of Antarctic temperatures. J. Clim. 20, 4096–4117 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Fountain, A. G. et al. The impact of a large-scale climate event on Antarcic ecosystem processes. BioScience 66, 848–863 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Doran, P. T. et al. Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response. Nature 415, 517–520 (2002).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Zachos, J., Pagani, M., Sloan, L., Thomas, E. & Billups, K. Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in global climate 65 Ma to present. Science 292, 686–693 (2001).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Sonderegger, D. L., Wang, H., Clements, W. H. & Noon, B. R. Using SiZer to detect thresholds in ecological data. Front. Ecol. Environ. 7, 190–195 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Clements, W. H., Vieira, N. K. M. & Sonderegger, D. L. Use of ecological thresholds to assess recovery in lotic ecosystems. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 29, 1017–1023 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Bestelmeyer, B. T. et al. Analysis of abrupt transitions in ecological systems. Ecosphere 2, 1–26 (2011).

  17. McKnight, D. M. et al. Dry Valley streams in Antarctica: ecosystems waiting for water. BioScience 49, 985–995 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Fountain, A. G. et al. Physical controls on the Taylor Valley ecosystem. BioScience 49, 961–971 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kohler, T. J. et al. Life in the main channel: long-term hydrologic control of microbial mat abundance in McMurdo Dry Valley streams, Antarctica. Ecosystems 18, 310–327 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Stanish, L. F., Nemergut, D. R. & McKnight, D. M. Hydrologic processes influence diatom community composition in Dry Valley streams. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 30, 1057–1073 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Esposito, R. M. M. et al. Antarctic climate cooling and response of diatoms in glacial meltwater streams. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, 2–5 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Moorhead, D. L., Wall, D. H., Virginia, R. A. & Parsons, A. N. Distribution and life-cycle of Scottnema lindsayae (Nematoda) in Antarctic soils: a modeling analysis of temperature responses. Polar Biol. 25, 118–125 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Wall, D. H. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in terrestrial habitats of Antarctica. Antarct. Sci. 17, 523–531 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Barrett, J. E. et al. Persistent effects of a discrete warming event on a polar desert ecosystem. Glob. Change Biol. 14, 2249–2261 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Obryk, M. et al. Responses of Antarctic marine and freshwater ecosystems to changing ice conditions. BioScience 66, 864–879 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Foreman, C. M., Wolf, C. F. & Priscu, J. C. Impact of episodic warming events on the physical, chemical and biological relationships of lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Aquat. Geochem. 10, 239–268 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Gherardi, L. A. & Sala, O. E. Enhanced precipitation variability decreases grass- and increases shrub-productivity. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 12735–12740 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Kohler, T. J., Chatfield, E., Gooseff, M. N., Barrett, J. E. & McKnight, D. M. Recovery of Antarctic stream epilithon from simulated scouring events. Antarct. Sci. 27, 1–14 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Overhoff, A., Freckman, D. & Virginia, R. Life cycle of the microbivorous Antarctic Dry Valley nematode Scottnema lindsayae (Timm 1971). Polar Biol. 13, 151–156 (1993).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The McMurdo LTER team gratefully acknowledges the funding support from the National Science Foundation for the initial LTER grant and subsequent renewals (award numbers 9211773, 9813061, 9810219, 0096250, 0423595, 0832755, 1041742 and 1115245). We are grateful for the numerous collaborators and students who helped carry out lab and fieldwork associated with this project, and thank the logistical and helicopter support contractors who have facilitated our field research in Antarctica since 1993 through the US Antarctic Program: Antarctic Support Associates, Raytheon Polar Services, Antarctic Support Contractors and Petroleum Helicopters.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Michael N. Gooseff, Diane M. McKnight & Eric R. Sokol

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    John E. Barrett

  3. Department of Biology and Monte L. Bean Museum, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    Byron J. Adams

  4. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Peter T. Doran

  5. Department of Geology, Portland State University, Portland, OR, 97207-0751, USA

    Andrew G. Fountain

  6. School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    W. Berry Lyons

  7. Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA

    John C. Priscu

  8. Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    Cristina Takacs-Vesbach

  9. Department of Biology and School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Martijn L. Vandegehuchte & Diana H. Wall

  10. Research Unit Community Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Martijn L. Vandegehuchte

  11. Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Martijn L. Vandegehuchte

  12. Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA

    Ross A. Virginia

Authors
  1. Michael N. Gooseff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John E. Barrett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Byron J. Adams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Peter T. Doran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Andrew G. Fountain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. W. Berry Lyons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Diane M. McKnight
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. John C. Priscu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Eric R. Sokol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Cristina Takacs-Vesbach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Martijn L. Vandegehuchte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Ross A. Virginia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Diana H. Wall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

M.N.G, J.E.B, B.J.A., P.T.D., D.M.M, J.C.P., C.T.-V., R.A.V. and D.H.W designed the experiments, field monitoring and analysis protocols, and analysed data; M.L.V. assembled and corrected long-term soil invertebrate data; E.R.S. performed SiZer analyses; M.N.G. wrote the paper, with substantial input from all authors; all authors assisted with fieldwork.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael N. Gooseff.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figures 1–2

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gooseff, M.N., Barrett, J.E., Adams, B.J. et al. Decadal ecosystem response to an anomalous melt season in a polar desert in Antarctica. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 1334–1338 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0253-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0253-0

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing