A study was conducted to examine soil microbial communities and associated geochemical parameters at potential glacial refugia and glaciated control sites throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Soil samples were collected as part of ongoing long-term monitoring efforts by the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program (MCM LTER). The oldest samples used in this study were collected during the 1993-1994 austral summer, and the newest from the 2018-2019 austral summer.
Dataset Results
During the 2017-2018 austral summer, a survey of soil invertebrate diversity and abundance was conducted throughout the Shackleton Glacier region of Antarctica to investigate whether habitat suitability, taxonomic diversity, and community composition follow predictable temporal patterns after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Soil samples were collected along elevation transects from twelve ice-free areas to capture maximum variation in soil properties, geochemistry, and surface exposure age.
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As part of an ongoing long-term sampling effort conducted by the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, the top 10 cm of soil was collected from sampling sites across the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. A subset of these samples representing each valley and a differing disturbance legacy from the last glacial maximum were analyzed for this data package. Samples were collected between 1995 and 2022.