Prof. Michael Gooseff's New Research
s has recently been published in the academic journal .
Gooseff, an associate professor in EVEN and the lead investigator for the MDV LTR project, was conducting his research in Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV). The MDV are the largest ice-free region of Antarctica and are considered a polar desert environment due to their low humidity and scarce precipitation. In 1992 this area was selected as a study site within the National Science Foundation's Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program. The project is an interdisciplinary study of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in a cold desert region of Antarctica.
Between 1987 and 2000, the MDV region experienced a period of cooling, during which average summer temperatures steadily declined while solar radiation gradually increased. The trend resulted in expected changes to most biological variables, including decreased streamflow and increased thickness of permanent ice covers on lakes. However, in 2002 the MDV experienced an abnormally warm and sunny summer season, triggering the greatest amount of glacial meltwater since 1969. The abrupt event prompted numerous changes in the lakes, streams and soils of the MDV over the following decade. Instead of a tightly-correlated change, biological responses to the 2002 season varied and, in some cases, lagged behind by years.
鈥淎 single extreme melt season led to an asynchronous pattern. It may be the abrupt, short-lived events that occur in response to climate change that cause long-term changes to physical and biological aspects of polar ecosystems," explains Gooseff.
The findings suggest that significant transformations of Antarctic ecosystems are underway now and will continue to be affected by future climate events.