LOW-DIVERSITY ANTARCTIC SOIL NEMATODE COMMUNITIES: DISTRIBUTION AND RESPONSE TO DISTURBANCE

Abstract

We are studying the distribution, biodiversity, and abundance of nematodes in the most extreme terrestrial environment on earth, the Dry Valley region of Antarctica. Here we report that the nematode community structure of 1–3 species in two functional groups may be the simplest soil food web of any terrestrial ecosystem. Nematodes were widespread and not correlated with moisture, C, or N, factors that define soil biotic complexity elsewhere. In a field experiment, treatments increasing soil water, carbon, and temperature, alone or in combination, generally decreased the abundance of the single omnivore-predator species and increased the abundance of its microbivorous prey species. These low-diversity nematode communities, limited to ≤3 species, apparently lack species redundancy and appear sensitive to environmental change. Our findings suggest that Antarctic soil ecosystems are sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance.