Dataset Results
Using automated overwinter sampling devices, we collected preserved phytoplankton samples from multiple depths in Lake Fryxell, a permanently ice-covered lake in southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Photosynthetic algae were maintained in a stable water column throughout winter darkness. The algal taxa overwintered in different ways in a species-specific manner. Typical vegetative cells were the most abundant form for all species found in the water column. Populations of one chlorophyte, Stichococcus sp., were observed in winter, but the species was absent in both summers.
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Knowledge of the McMurdo Dry Valley (MDV) lakes is limited by winter access, a period which is most relevant in understanding the habitability of other icy worlds and critical to understanding the overall function of these lakes. Owing to the lack of winter access, data that normally require human presence are incomplete. Our goal was to conduct the first year-round investigation of the biogeophysics of these unique lakes. An important part of the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) is evaluating carbon and nitrogen budgets in perennial ice-covered lakes.
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Lake Bonney (McMurdo Dry Valleys, east Antarctica) represents a year-round refugia for life adapted to extreme conditions. Lake level has risen by more than 3 m since 2004, but impacts of rapid lake level rise on phytoplankton community structure is also poorly understood.
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The purpose of this experiment, performed as part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (MCM LTER) program, was to investigate the impact of lake level rise and moat expansion on microbial community diversity and function in the East Lobe of Lake Bonney, located in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. The “tLICE” experiment tested the following MCM5 Hypotheses: H3-Disturbance increases connectivity and accelerates shifts towards homogeneity, and H4-Decreased heterogeneity reduces community resistance and resilience.
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This data package consists of microplankton counts from discrete water column samples collected at various depths in Lake Fryxell and Lake Hoare in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Samples were collected and preserved during the austral summer-autumn transition in 2007-2008 and in addition to routine McMurdo Dry Valley Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) core limnological sampling in November and December of 2008, 2010, and 2011. Data were imaged using flow cytometry (FlowCam VS-IV) and classified with statistical image-based software (Visual Spreadsheet, v4.17.14).
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This data package consists of particle diameter and biovolume data for haptorian ciliates classified from discrete water column samples collected at various depths in Lake Fryxell and Lake Hoare in the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Samples were collected and preserved between November 2007 and January 2020 in Lake Fryxell and between November 2007 and March 2008 in Lake Hoare. Samples were collected and analyzed as part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) core limnological sampling.