Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light
Hypolithic microbial communities are productive niches in deserts worldwide, but many facets of their basic ecology remain unknown. The Namib Desert is an important site for hypolith study because it has abundant quartz rocks suitable for colonization and extends west to east across a transition fro...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Wiley
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/68359 |
| _version_ | 1855531099781857280 |
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| author | Warren-Rhodes, K.W. McKay, C.P. Boyle, L.N. Wing, M.R. Kiekebusch, E.M. Cowan, D.A. Stomeo, Francesca Pointing, S.B. Kaseke, K.F. Eckardt, F. Henschel, J.R. Anisfeld, A. Seely, M. Rhodes, K.L. |
| author_browse | Anisfeld, A. Boyle, L.N. Cowan, D.A. Eckardt, F. Henschel, J.R. Kaseke, K.F. Kiekebusch, E.M. McKay, C.P. Pointing, S.B. Rhodes, K.L. Seely, M. Stomeo, Francesca Warren-Rhodes, K.W. Wing, M.R. |
| author_facet | Warren-Rhodes, K.W. McKay, C.P. Boyle, L.N. Wing, M.R. Kiekebusch, E.M. Cowan, D.A. Stomeo, Francesca Pointing, S.B. Kaseke, K.F. Eckardt, F. Henschel, J.R. Anisfeld, A. Seely, M. Rhodes, K.L. |
| author_sort | Warren-Rhodes, K.W. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Hypolithic microbial communities are productive niches in deserts worldwide, but many facets of their basic ecology remain unknown. The Namib Desert is an important site for hypolith study because it has abundant quartz rocks suitable for colonization and extends west to east across a transition from fog- to rain-dominated moisture sources. We show that fog sustains and impacts hypolithic ecology in several ways, as follows: (1) fog effectively replaces rainfall in the western zone of the central Namib to enable high (?95%) hypolithic abundance at landscape (1–10 km) and larger scales; and (2) high water availability, through fog (western zone) and/or rainfall (eastern zone), results in smaller size-class rocks being colonized (mean 6.3?±?1.2 cm) at higher proportions (e.g., 98% versus approximately 3%) than in previously studied hyperarid deserts. We measured 0.1% of incident sunlight as the lower limit for hypolithic growth on quartz rocks in the Namib and found that uncolonized ventral rock surfaces were limited by light rather than moisture. In situ monitoring showed that although rainfall supplied more liquid water (36 h) per event than fog (mean 4 h), on an equivalent annual basis, fog provided nearly twice as much liquid water as rainfall to the hypolithic zone. Hypolithic abundance reaches 100% at a mean annual precipitation (MAP) of approximately 40–60 mm, but at a much lower MAP (approximately 25 mm) when moisture from fog is available. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace68359 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publishDateRange | 2013 |
| publishDateSort | 2013 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace683592023-09-10T14:45:04Z Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light Warren-Rhodes, K.W. McKay, C.P. Boyle, L.N. Wing, M.R. Kiekebusch, E.M. Cowan, D.A. Stomeo, Francesca Pointing, S.B. Kaseke, K.F. Eckardt, F. Henschel, J.R. Anisfeld, A. Seely, M. Rhodes, K.L. deserts ecology Hypolithic microbial communities are productive niches in deserts worldwide, but many facets of their basic ecology remain unknown. The Namib Desert is an important site for hypolith study because it has abundant quartz rocks suitable for colonization and extends west to east across a transition from fog- to rain-dominated moisture sources. We show that fog sustains and impacts hypolithic ecology in several ways, as follows: (1) fog effectively replaces rainfall in the western zone of the central Namib to enable high (?95%) hypolithic abundance at landscape (1–10 km) and larger scales; and (2) high water availability, through fog (western zone) and/or rainfall (eastern zone), results in smaller size-class rocks being colonized (mean 6.3?±?1.2 cm) at higher proportions (e.g., 98% versus approximately 3%) than in previously studied hyperarid deserts. We measured 0.1% of incident sunlight as the lower limit for hypolithic growth on quartz rocks in the Namib and found that uncolonized ventral rock surfaces were limited by light rather than moisture. In situ monitoring showed that although rainfall supplied more liquid water (36 h) per event than fog (mean 4 h), on an equivalent annual basis, fog provided nearly twice as much liquid water as rainfall to the hypolithic zone. Hypolithic abundance reaches 100% at a mean annual precipitation (MAP) of approximately 40–60 mm, but at a much lower MAP (approximately 25 mm) when moisture from fog is available. 2013-12 2015-09-30T10:55:54Z 2015-09-30T10:55:54Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/68359 en Limited Access Wiley Warren-Rhodes, K.W., McKay, C.P., Boyle, L.N., Wing, M.R., Kiekebusch, E.M., Cowan, D.A., Stomeo, F., Pointing, S.B., Kaseke, K.F., Eckardt, F., Henschel, J.R., Anisfeld, A., Seely, M. and Rhodes, K.L. 2013. Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 118(4):1451–1460. |
| spellingShingle | deserts ecology Warren-Rhodes, K.W. McKay, C.P. Boyle, L.N. Wing, M.R. Kiekebusch, E.M. Cowan, D.A. Stomeo, Francesca Pointing, S.B. Kaseke, K.F. Eckardt, F. Henschel, J.R. Anisfeld, A. Seely, M. Rhodes, K.L. Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light |
| title | Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light |
| title_full | Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light |
| title_fullStr | Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light |
| title_short | Physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central Namib Desert: The role of fog, rain, rock habitat, and light |
| title_sort | physical ecology of hypolithic communities in the central namib desert the role of fog rain rock habitat and light |
| topic | deserts ecology |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/68359 |
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