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      Diverse hypolithic refuge communities in the McMurdo Dry Valleys

      Cowan, Don A.; Khan, Nuraan; Pointing, Stephen B.; Cary, S. Craig
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      Diverse hypolithic 2010.pdf
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      DOI
       10.1017/S0954102010000507
      Link
       journals.cambridge.org
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      Cowan, D.A., Khan, N., Pointing, S.B. & Cary, S.C. (2010). Diverse hypolithic refuge communities in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Antarctic Science, 22(6), 714-720.
      Permanent Research Commons link: https://hdl.handle.net/10289/5090
      Abstract
      Hyper-arid deserts present extreme challenges to life. The environmental buffering provided by quartz and other translucent rocks allows hypolithic microbial communities to develop on sub-soil surfaces of such rocks. These refuge communities have been reported, for many locations worldwide, to be predominantly cyanobacterial in nature. Here we report the discovery in Antarctica’s hyper-arid McMurdo Dry Valleys of three clearly distinguishable types of hypolithic community. Based on gross colonization morphology and identification of dominant taxa, we have classified hypolithic communities as Type I (cyanobacterial dominated), Type II (fungal dominated) and Type III (moss dominated). This discovery supports a growing awareness of the high biocomplexity in Antarctic deserts, emphasizes the possible importance of cryptic microbial communities in nutrient cycling and provides evidence for possible successional community processes within a cold arid landscape.
      Date
      2010
      Type
      Journal Article
      Publisher
      Cambridge University Press
      Rights
      Copyright Antarctic Science 2010.
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      • Science and Engineering Papers [3124]
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