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Kelp gull shell middens potentially facilitate root growth of non-native plants in AntarcticaNARA Subscribed
Ecosystem engineering is an important factor influencing species establishment in novel environments. Here we tested how shell middens created by kelp gulls ( Larus dominicanus ) affect the growth of candidate non-native plants under simulated Antarctic conditions. Calcium compounds derived from the shells raised the organic Antarctic substrate pH from 6.0 to 7.3 and resulted in increased plant biomass (21–100%) over a 14-week...
Climate Change Projected to Double the Richness and Abundance of Soilborne Phytopathogenic Fungi in Southern Maritime AntarcticaNARA Subscribed
How climate change impacts pathogens in the natural environment is a critical ecological question. Yet, little is known of how rapid ongoing climate change in Antarctica and Patagonia will influence the fungal pathogens in the barren soils typical of these regions. Here, using DNA metabarcoding and LASSO regression, we identify climatic factors—and notably mean annual air temperature—as the best predictors for the taxonomic ri...
To effectively manage biological assemblages, a sound knowledge of the biodiversity is essential. The Southern Ocean shelf benthic assemblages are typically comprised of species, the names of which are shared across the huge expanse of the region, indicating large population sizes and good connectivity, inferring resilience. This is despite two decades of studies identifying cryptic or unrecognised species in many benthic grou...
Community assembly among potential invasive plants in Antarctica shaped by life history characteristics and climate warmingNARA Subscribed
Species arrival sequence in new habitats impacts plant community development. This ‘priority-effect’ is documented, but mechanisms by which early arriving plants dominate future communities are less clear, complicating our ability to predict community assembly under future climate warming and assess invasive species threats. This is particularly important for ecosystems that are vulnerable to invasive species, such as those of...
Current understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes underlying island biodiversity is heavily shaped by empirical data from plants and birds, although arthropods comprise the overwhelming majority of known animal species, and as such can provide key insights into processes governing biodiversity. Novel high throughput sequencing (HTS) approaches are now emerging as powerful tools to overcome limitations in the avail...
Global maps of soil temperatureNARA Subscribed
Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1‐km 2 r...
Inhibitory effects of climate change on the growth and extracellular enzyme activities of a widespread Antarctic soil fungusNARA Subscribed
Temperatures approaching or exceeding 20°C have been measured during summer in polar regions at the surfaces of barren fellfield soils under cloudless skies around solar noon. However, despite the upper temperature limit for the growth of cold‐adapted microbes—which are abundant in polar soils and have pivotal roles in nutrient cycling—typically being close to this temperature, previous studies have not addressed the consequen...
Ocean currents as a potential dispersal pathway for Antarctica’s most persistent non-native terrestrial insectNARA Subscribed
The non-native midge Eretmoptera murphyi is Antarctica’s most persistent non-native insect and is known to impact the terrestrial ecosystems. It inhabits by considerably increasing litter turnover and availability of soil nutrients. The midge was introduced to Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, from its native South Georgia, and routes of dispersal to date have been aided by human activities, with little known about non-human...
Aim Antarctica's remote and extreme terrestrial environments are inhabited by only two species of native vascular plants. We assessed genetic connectivity amongst Antarctic and South American populations of one of these species, Colobanthus quitensis , to determine its origin and age in Antarctica. Location Maritime Antarctic, sub‐Antarctic islands, South America. Taxon Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis (Caryophyllacea...
Aim Correlative species distribution models (SDMs) are subject to substantial spatio‐temporal limitations when historical occurrence records of data‐poor species provide incomplete and outdated information for niche modelling. Complementary mechanistic modelling techniques can, therefore, offer a valuable contribution to underpin more physiologically informed predictions of biological invasions, the risk of which is often exac...