Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:49:11.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experimental warming of bryophytes increases the population density of the nematode Plectus belgicae in maritime Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2020

Kevin K. Newsham Open the ORCID record for Kevin K. Newsham [Opens in a new window] ,
Richard J. Hall  and
N. Rolf Maslen
Kevin K. Newsham*
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, CambridgeCB3 0ET, UK
Richard J. Hall
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, CambridgeCB3 0ET, UK
N. Rolf Maslen
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, CambridgeCB3 0ET, UK
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Despite nematodes routinely being the most frequent soil- and bryophyte-associated animals in maritime Antarctica, there is a lack of clarity about the influence of warming on their populations in the region. Here, we report the results of a field experiment on Adelaide Island that tested the effects of warming with open-top chambers (OTCs) for 37 months on nematodes associated with the bryophytes Cephaloziella varians and Sanionia uncinata. Over the experiment's duration, OTCs increased the population density of the nematode Plectus belgicae in mats of both bryophytes by six-fold, with four- to seven-fold increases in the abundances of male, female and juvenile P. belgicae in warmed mats, and with the largest effects on the abundances of juveniles. Despite C. varians, which is black in colour, warming to a greater extent than S. uncinata during summer, no interactive effects of OTCs and bryophyte species were recorded on the population density of P. belgicae. Our results corroborate a previous study showing that warming increases Plectus population densities in maritime Antarctic soils, with implications for the region's terrestrial food webs.

Keywords

Cephaloziella variansclimate warmingNematodaopen-top chambers (OTCs)Sanionia uncinata
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 165 - 173
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, B., Arthern, R., Atkinson, A., Barbante, C., Bargagli, R., Bergstrom, D., et al. 2009. The instrumental period. In Turner, J., Bindschadler, R., Convey, P., di Prisco, G., Fahrbach, E., Gutt, J., et al. , eds. Antarctic climate change and the environment. Cambridge: Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, 183–298.Google Scholar
Amesbury, M.J., Roland, T.P., Royles, J., Hodgson, D.A., Convey, P., Griffiths, H. & Charman, D.J. 2017. Widespread biological response to rapid warming on the Antarctic Peninsula. Current Biology, 27, 1616–1622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barrett, J.E., Virginia, R.A., Wall, D.H. & Adams, B.J. 2008. Decline in a dominant invertebrate species contributes to altered carbon cycling in a low-diversity soil ecosystem. Global Change Biology, 14, 1734–1744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bokhorst, S., Huiskes, A., Convey, P., Sinclair, B.J., Lebouvier, M., van de Vijver, B. & Wall, D.H. 2011. Microclimate impacts of passive warming methods in Antarctica: implications for climate change studies. Polar Biology, 34, 1421–1435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bokhorst, S., Huiskes, A., Aerts, R., Convey, P., Cooper, E.J., Dalen, L., et al. 2013. Variable temperature effects of open top chambers at polar and alpine sites explained by irradiance and snow depth. Global Change Biology, 19, 64–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bracegirdle, T.J. & Stephenson, D.B. 2012. Higher precision estimates of regional polar warming by ensemble regression of climate model predictions. Climate Dynamics, 39, 2805–2821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bracegirdle, T.J., Connolley, W.M. & Turner, J. 2008. Antarctic climate change over the twenty first century. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, D03103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Convey, P. 2003. Soil faunal community response to environmental manipulation on Alexander Island, southern maritime Antarctic. In Huiskes, A.H.L., Gieskes, W.W.C., Rozema, J., Schorno, R.M.L., van der Vies, S.M. & Wolff, W.J., eds. Antarctic biology in a global context. Leiden: Backhuys, 74–78.Google Scholar
Convey, P. & Wynn-Williams, D.D. 2002. Antarctic soil nematode response to artificial climate amelioration. European Journal of Soil Biology, 38, 255–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Convey, P., Pugh, P.J.A., Jackson, C., Murray, A.W., Ruhland, C.T., Xiong, F.S. & Day, T.A. 2002. Response of Antarctic terrestrial microarthropods to long-term climate manipulations. Ecology, 83, 3130–3140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, A.J., Fox, A.J., Vaughan, D.G. & Ferrigno, J.G. 2005. Retreating glacier fronts on the Antarctic Peninsula over the past half-century. Science, 308, 541–544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Day, T.A., Ruhland, C.T., Strauss, S.L., Park, J.-H., Krieg, M.L., Krna, M.A. & Bryant, D.M. 2009. Response of plants and the dominant microarthropod, Cryptopygus antarcticus, to warming and contrasting precipitation regimes in Antarctic tundra. Global Change Biology, 15, 1640–1651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferris, H., Lau, S. & Venette, R. 1995. Population energetics of bacterial-feeding nematodes: respiration and metabolic rates based on CO2 production. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 27, 319–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, A.J. & Cooper, A.P.R. 1998. Climate-change indicators from archival aerial photography of the Antarctic Peninsula. Annals of Glaciology, 27, 636–642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooper, D.J. 1986. Extraction of free-living stages from soil. In Southey, J.F., ed. Laboratory methods for work with plant and soil nematodes. London: HMSO, 5–30.Google Scholar
Horrocks, C.A., Newsham, K.K., Cox, F., Garnett, M.H., Robinson, C.H. & Dungait, J.A.J. 2020. Predicting climate change impacts on maritime Antarctic soils: a space-for-time substitution study. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 141, 107682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, K.A., Pescott, O.L., Peyton, J., Adriaens, T., Cottier-Cook, E.J., Key, G., et al. 2020. Invasive non-native species likely to threaten biodiversity and ecosystems in the Antarctic Peninsula region. Global Change Biology, 26, 2702–2716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, A.D. 1993. Water as a limiting factor in the Antarctic terrestrial environment: a biogeographical synthesis. Arctic and Alpine Research, 25, 308–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maslen, N.R. 1981. The Signy Island terrestrial reference sites: XII. Population ecology of nematodes with additions to the fauna. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin, No. 53, 57–75.Google Scholar
Maslen, N.R. & Convey, P. 2006. Nematode diversity and distribution in the southern maritime Antarctic - clues to history? Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38, 3141–3151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newsham, K.K. 2010. The biology and ecology of the liverwort Cephaloziella varians in Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 22, 131–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newsham, K.K., Rolf, J., Pearce, D.A. & Strachan, R.J. 2004. Differing preferences of Antarctic soil nematodes for microbial prey. European Journal of Soil Biology, 40, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newsham, K.K., Hopkins, D.W., Carvalhais, L.C., Fretwell, P.T., Rushton, S.P., O'Donnell, A.G. & Dennis, P.G. 2016. Relationship between soil fungal diversity and temperature in the maritime Antarctic. Nature Climate Change, 6, 182–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overhoff, A., Freckman, D.W. & Virginia, R.A. 1993. Life cycle of the microbivorous Antarctic Dry Valley nematode Scottnema lindsayae (Timm 1971). Polar Biology, 13, 151–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prather, H.M., Casanova-Katny, A., Clements, A.F., Chmielewski, M.W., Balkan, M.A., Shortlidge, E.E., et al. 2019. Species-specific effects of passive warming in an Antarctic moss system. Royal Society Open Science, 6, 190744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Royles, J., Amesbury, M.J., Convey, P., Griffiths, H., Hodgson, D.A., Leng, M.J. & Charman, D.J. 2013. Plants and soil microbes respond to recent warming on the Antarctic Peninsula. Current Biology, 23, 1–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simmons, B.L., Wall, D.H., Adams, B.J., Ayres, E., Barrett, J.E. & Virginia, R.A. 2009. Long-term experimental warming reduces soil nematode populations in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 41, 2052–2060.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snell, K.R.S., Kokubun, T., Griffiths, H., Convey, P., Hodgson, D.A. & Newsham, K.K. 2009. Quantifying the metabolic cost to an Antarctic liverwort of responding to an abrupt increase in UV-B radiation exposure. Global Change Biology, 15, 2563–2573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spaull, V.W. 1973. Distribution of nematode feeding groups at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, with an estimate of their biomass and oxygen consumption. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin, No. 37, 21–32.Google Scholar
Turner, J., Lu, H., White, I., King, J.C., Phillips, T., Hosking, J.S., et al. 2016. Absence of 21st century warming on Antarctic Peninsula consistent with natural variability. Nature, 535, 411–415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yergeau, E., Bokhorst, S., Kang, S., Zhou, J., Greer, C.W., Aerts, R. & Kowalchuk, G.A. 2012. Shifts in soil microorganisms in response to warming are consistent across a wide range of Antarctic environments. ISME Journal, 6, 692–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Newsham et al. supplementary material

Figures S1 and S2

Download Newsham et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 1.2 MB