Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The ecological role of moss in a polar desert: implications for aboveground–belowground and terrestrial–aquatic linkages

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica is one of the coldest and driest habitats on the planet. As vascular plants are absent in this region, moss is the main form of aboveground primary production with a potentially important contribution to biogeochemical cycling, yet little is known about their ecological role. To determine the relationship between moss and soil properties relevant to biogeochemistry, we sampled both from a variety of locations in the Dry Valleys. Moss presence was compared to soil properties, and we measured the plasticity of moss stoichiometry (C:N:P) across gradients in nutrient availability. Results demonstrate that many soil properties significantly differed with moss presence, particularly conductivity and pH, but there is no strong evidence that this is caused by the moss presence and not the conditions inherent to the microsites where moss was found. There is great variability in moss stoichiometry, with some significant differences between sites, but generally variability within sites is larger than variation among sites. Results suggest that the main source of moss nutrients is from the soil, rather than water, but correlations with any one nutrient source are weak, suggesting a great deal of plasticity in moss stoichiometry and nutrient uptake.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams BJ, Bardgett RD, Ayres E, Wall DH, Aislabie J, Bamforth S, Bargagli R, Cary C, Cavacini P, Connell L, Convey P, Fell JW, Frati F, Hogg ID, Newsham KK, O’Donnell A, Russell N, Seppelt RD, Stevens MI (2006) Diversity and distribution of Victoria Land biota. Soil Biol Biochem 38:3003–3018

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ball BA, Virginia RA (2012) Meltwater seep patches increase heterogeneity of soil geochemistry and therefore habitat suitability. Geoderma 189–190:652–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett JE, Virginia RA, Wall DH (2002) Trends in resin and KCl-extractable soil nitrogen across landscape gradients in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Ecosystems 5:289–299

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett JE, Virginia RA, Wall DH, Parsons AN, Powers LE, Burkins MB (2004) Variation in biogeochemistry and soil biodiversity across spatial scales in a polar desert ecosystem. Ecology 85:3105–3118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett JE, Virginia RA, Lyons WB, McKnight DM, Priscu JC, Doran PT, Fountain AG, Wall DH, Moorhead DL (2007) Biogeochemical stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley ecosystems. J Geophys Res 112:G01010

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrett JE, Virginia RA, Wall DH, Doran PT, Fountain AG, Welch KA, Lyons WB (2008) Persistent effects of a discrete warming event on a polar desert ecosystem. Glob Change Biol 14:2249–2261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett JE, Gooseff MN, Takacs-Vesbach C (2009) Spatial variation in soil active-layer geochemistry across hydrologic margins in polar desert ecosystems. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 13:2349–2358

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bate DB, Barrett JE, Poage MA, Virginia RA (2008) Soil phosphorus cycling in an Antarctic polar desert. Geoderma 144:21–31

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bjerke JW, Bokhorst S, Zielke M, Callaghan TV, Bowles FW, Phoenix GK (2011) Contrasting sensitivity to extreme winter warming events of dominant sub-Arctic heathland bryophyte and lichen species. J Ecol 99:1481–1488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Björck S, Malmer N, Hjort C, Sandgren P, Ingólfsson Ó, Wallén B, Lewis Smith RI, Jónsson BL (1991) Stratigraphic and paleoclimatic studies of a 5,500-year-old moss bank on Elephant Island, Antarctica. Arct Alp Res 23:361–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, McLeod M (2008) Soil distribution in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Geoderma 144:43–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bockheim JG, Campbell IB, McLeod M (2007) Permafrost distribution and active-layer depths in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Permafrost Periglac 18:217–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breemen N, Schlesinger W, Pilmanis A (1998) Plant–soil interactions in deserts. Plant-induced soil changes: processes and feedbacks. Springer, Netherlands, pp 169–187

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Burkins MB, Virginia RA, Chamberlain CP, Wall DH (2000) Origin and distribution of soil organic matter in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Ecology 81:2377–2391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burkins MB, Virginia RA, Wall DH (2001) Organic carbon cycling in Taylor Valley, Antarctica: quantifying soil reservoirs and soil respiration. Glob Change Biol 7:113–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell IB, Claridge GGC (1987) Antarctica: soils, weathering processes and environment. Elsevier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell IB, Claridge GGC, Balks MR, Campbell DI (1997) Moisture content in soils of the McMurdo Sound and Dry Valley region of Antarctica. In: Lyons WB, Howard-Williams C, Hawes I (eds) Ecosystem processes in antarctic ice-free landscapes. A.A Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 61–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannone N, Convey P, Guglielmin M (2013) Diversity trends of bryophytes in continental Antarctica. Polar Biol 36:259–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coe KK, Belnap J, Sparks JP (2012) Precipitation-driven carbon balance controls survivorship of desert biocrust mosses. Ecology 93:1626–1636

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis RC (1986) Environmental factors influencing decomposition rates in 2 Antarctic moss communities. Polar Biol 5:95–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenton JHC (1982) The formation of vertical edges on Antarctic moss peat banks. Arct Alp Res 14:21–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fountain AG, Lyons WB, Burkins MB, Dana GL, Doran PT, Lewis KJ, McKnight DM, Moorhead DL, Parsons AN, Priscu JC, Wall DH, Wharton RA, Virginia RA (1999) Physical controls on the Taylor Valley ecosystem, Antarctica. Bioscience 49:961–971

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fountain AG, Nylen TH, Monaghan A, Basagic HJ, Bromwich D (2010) Snow in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Int J Climatol 30:633–642

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann EI, Kappen L, Meyer MA, Nienow JA (1993) Long-term productivity in the cryptoendolithic microbial community of the Ross Desert, Antarctica. Microb Ecol 25:51–69

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garner W, Steinberger Y (1989) A proposed mechanism for the formation of fertile islands in the desert ecosystem. J Arid Environ 16:257–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Gooseff MN, Barrett JE, Doran PT, Fountain AG, Lyons WB, Parsons AN, Porazinska DL, Virginia RA, Wall DH (2003) Snow-patch influence on soil biogeochemical processes and invertebrate distribution in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Arct Antarct Alp Res 35:91–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins DW, Sparrow AD, Shillam LL, English LC, Dennis PG, Novis P, Elberling B, Gregorich EG, Greenfield LG (2008) Enzymatic activities and microbial communities in an Antarctic dry valley soil: responses to C and N supplementation. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2130–2136

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ino Y, Nakatsubo T (1986) Distribution of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in a moss community-soil system developed on a cold desert in Antarctica. Ecol Res 1:59–69

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jia RL, Li XR, Liu LC, Gao YH, Zhang XT (2012) Differential wind tolerance of soil crust mosses explains their micro-distribution in nature. Soil Biol Biochem 45:31–39

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lang SI, Cornelissen JHC, Shaver GR, Ahrens M, Callaghan TV, Molau U, Ter Braak CJF, Hölzer A, Aerts R (2012) Arctic warming on two continents has consistent negative effects on lichen diversity and mixed effects on bryophyte diversity. Glob Change Biol 18:1096–1107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyons WB, Welch KA, Carey AE, Doran PT, Wall DH, Virginia RA, Fountain AG, Csathó BM, Tremper CM (2005) Groundwater seeps in Taylor Valley Antarctica: an example of a subsurface melt event. Ann Glaciol 40:200–206

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McKnight DM (nd) McMurdo Dry Valley stream descriptions. knb-lter-mcm12. http://tropical.lternet.edu/knb/metacat/knb-lter-mcm.1.2/mcm

  • McKnight DM, Runkel RL, Tate CM, Duff JH, Moorhead DL (2004) Inorganic N and P dynamics of Antarctic glacial meltwater streams as controlled by hyporheic exchange and benthic autotrophic communities. J North Am Benthol Soc 23:171–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moorhead DL, Barrett JE, Virginia RA, Wall DH, Porazinska D (2003) Organic matter and soil biota of upland wetlands in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Polar Biol 26:567–576

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen UN, Wall DH, Adams BJ, Virginia RA, Ball BA, Gooseff MN, McKnight DM (2012) The ecology of pulse events: insights from an extreme climatic event in a polar desert ecosystem. Ecosphere 3:17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novis PM, Whitehead D, Gregorich EG, Hunt JE, Sparrow AD, Hopkins DW, Elberling B, Greenfield LG (2007) Annual carbon fixation in terrestrial populations of Nostoc commune (Cyanobacteria) from an Antarctic dry valley is driven by temperature regime. Glob Change Biol 13:1224–1237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phuyal M, Artz RRE, Sheppard L, Leith ID, Johnson D (2008) Long-term nitrogen deposition increases phosphorus limitation of bryophytes in an ombrotrophic bog. Plant Ecol 196:111–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poage MA, Barrettt JE, Virginia RA, Wall DH (2008) The influence of soil geochemistry on nematode distribution, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Arct Antarct Alp Res 40:119–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royles J, Amesbury M, Convey P, Griffiths H, Hodgson Dominic A, Leng Melanie J, Charman Dan J (2013) Plants and soil microbes respond to recent warming on the Antarctic Peninsula. Curr Biol 23:1702–1706

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seppelt RD, Green TGA (1998) A bryophyte flora for Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. N Z J Bot 36:617–635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seppelt RD, Green TGA, Schwarz AMJ, Frost A (1992) Extreme southern locations for moss sporophytes in Antarctica. Antarct Sci 4:37–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons B, Wall D, Adams B, Ayres E, Barrett J, Virginia R (2009a) Terrestrial mesofauna in above- and below-ground habitats: Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Polar Biol 32:1549–1558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmons BL, Wall DH, Adams BJ, Ayres E, Barrett JE, Virginia RA (2009b) Long-term experimental warming reduces soil nematode populations in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Soil Biol Biochem 41:2052–2060

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Solga A (2007) Seasonal variation in the nitrogen concentration and 15N natural abundance of a pleurocarpous moss species in dependence on nitrogen deposition dynamics. Cryptogam Bryol 28:93–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart K, Lamb E, Coxson D, Siciliano S (2011) Bryophyte-cyanobacterial associations as a key factor in N2-fixation across the Canadian Arctic. Plant Soil 344:335–346

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takacs-Vesbach C, Zeglin L, Gooseff MA, Barrett JE, Priscu JC (2010) Factors promoting microbial diversity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. In: Doran P, Lyons W, McKnight D (eds) Life in antarctic deserts and other cold dry environments: astrobiological analogues. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 221–257

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Treonis AM, Wall DH, Virginia RA (1999) Invertebrate biodiversity in Antarctic Dry Valley soils and sediments. Ecosystems 2:482–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NSF Division of Environmental Biology and Office of Polar Programs Grants to the McMurdo LTER (ANT-0423595), as well as research awards from the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at ASU. We thank students Jen Bagby, Jennifer Bailard, Aaron Cappelli, Katie Moerlein, and Elizabeth Traver for their help in the field and lab, as well as Satoshi Ishii for providing additional moss distribution data. Logistic support was provided by Raytheon Polar Services and Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. Paul Zietz at Dartmouth and Cathy Kochert, Roy Erickson, and Sara Ryan at the Goldwater Environmental Lab (ASU) provided analytical services. Inigo San Gil produced the distribution maps.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University at the West Campus, 1407 W. Thunderbird Rd., Glendale, AZ, 85306, USA

    Becky A. Ball

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

    Ross A. Virginia

Authors
  1. Becky A. Ball
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ross A. Virginia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Becky A. Ball.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 2698 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ball, B.A., Virginia, R.A. The ecological role of moss in a polar desert: implications for aboveground–belowground and terrestrial–aquatic linkages. Polar Biol 37, 651–664 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1465-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1465-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation