Project Title

LTER: MCM6: The Roles of Legacy and Ecological Connectivity in a Polar Desert Ecosystem

Summary

Event Number:
C-507-M
NSF / OPP Award 2224760

Program Director:
Dr. William Ambrose

ASC POC/Implementer:
Ryan Steiner / Jenny Cunningham

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Byron J Adams
bjadams@byu.edu
Brigham Young University
College of Life Sciences
Provo, Utah

Project Web Site:
https://mcm.lternet.edu/

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: McMurdo Dry Valleys

Description

In this iteration of the McMurdo Long-Term Ecological Research (MCM-LTER) project (MCM6), the team will test ecological connectivity and stability theory in a system subject to strong physical drivers (e.g., geological legacies, extreme seasonality, contemporary climate change) and driven by microbial organisms. The team hypothesizes that the structure and functioning of the McMurdo Dry Valleys ecosystem depends on legacies and the contemporary frequency, duration, and magnitude of ecological connectivity. This hypothesis will be tested with new and continuing monitoring, experiments, and analyses of long-term datasets to examine (1) the stability of these ecosystems as reflected by sentinel taxa; (2) the relationship between ecological legacies and ecosystem resilience; (3) the importance of material carryover during periods of low connectivity to maintaining biological activity and community stability; and (4) how changes in disturbance dynamics disrupt ecological cycles through the polar night. Tests of these hypotheses will occur in field and modeling activities using new and existing long-term datasets.

Field Season Overview

Five participants will deploy on the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) soils team from mid-December to early February. The team will primarily base out of McMurdo Station and make day trips to locations throughout the Dry Valleys to sample soils, conduct various in situ soil experiments, and monitor and maintain soil meteorological stations. The team will analyze and prepare collected soil samples at Crary Lab. The team will also make a weeklong overnight trip to Fryxell Camp.

Deploying Team Members