Biotic interactions are an unexpected yet critical control on the complexity of an abiotically driven polar ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Abiotic and biotic factors control ecosystem biodiversity, but their relative contributions remain unclear. The ultraoligotrophic ecosystem of the Antarctic Dry Valleys, a simple yet highly heterogeneous ecosystem, is a natural laboratory well-suited for resolving the abiotic and biotic controls of community structure. We undertook a multidisciplinary investigation to capture ecologically relevant biotic and abiotic attributes of more than 500 sites in the Dry Valleys, encompassing observed landscape heterogeneities across more than 200 km². Using richness of autotrophic and heterotrophic taxa as a proxy for functional complexity, we linked measured variables in a parsimonious yet comprehensive structural equation model that explained significant variations in biological complex

SUBMITTER: Lee CK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6377621 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature