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Mesoscale Dynamics of Ephemeral Wetlands in the Antarctic Dry Valleys: Implications to Production and Distribution of Organic Matter

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ABSTRACT

Ephemeral wetlands in the Antarctic dry valleys alternate as sites of in situ net primary production when inundated and sources of organic matter for eolian export when desiccated. Evidence of this switch was obtained from observations made in two field seasons (2001 and 2003), coincidentally separated by a season of exceptionally high water yield from nearby glaciers (2002). In 2001, organic matter on soil surfaces adjacent to several ponds in Taylor Valley often exceeded 500 g C/m2. One pond had a total stock of approximately 1,388 kg organic C on soils within 20 m of the shoreline. These materials formed concentric rings around the pond, suggesting historically higher water levels, consistent with aerial photographs taken a decade earlier (1993). In 2003, these materials were submerged by water apparently received during the intervening year. Also in 2003, pitfall traps were placed along the edges of exposed organic matter adjacent to another pond to evaluate organic material erosion by wind. Over 4.5 days, traps collected 0.22 ± 0.12 to 2.91 ± 1.68 g C/m2, both confirming and quantifying wind transport. These results indicate that organic matter production and movement, driven by seasonal and decadal patterns of inundation/desiccation of small, ephemeral wetlands, overlay longer term (centuries and millennia) and larger scale (landscape) patterns of production and distribution driven by regional fluctuations in hydrological balance between glaciers and large freshwater lakes.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this work was provided by a grant from the United States National Science Foundation OPP-0096250.

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  1. Department of Earth, Ecological and Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft, Mail-stop 604, Toledo, Ohio, 43606, USA

    Daryl L. Moorhead

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Moorhead, D.L. Mesoscale Dynamics of Ephemeral Wetlands in the Antarctic Dry Valleys: Implications to Production and Distribution of Organic Matter. Ecosystems 10, 87–95 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-006-9005-8

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