Glacial Legacies: Microbial Communities of Antarctic Refugia.

ABSTRACT: In the cold deserts of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) the suitability of soil for microbial life is determined by both contemporary processes and legacy effects. Climatic changes and accompanying glacial activity have caused local extinctions and lasting geochemical changes to parts of these soil ecosystems over several million years, while areas of refugia may have escaped these disturbances and existed under relatively stable conditions. This study describes the impact of historical glacial and lacustrine disturbance events on microbial communities across the MDV to investigate how this divergent disturbance history influenced the structuring of microbial communities across this otherwise very stable ecosystem. Soil bacterial communities from 17 sites representing either putative refugia

SUBMITTER: Jackson AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9598129 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature