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Insights of Extreme Desert Ecology to the Habitats and Habitability of MarsDesert ecosystems are a key repository for important Mars analog habitats and the extant or extinct life within them. We provide an overview of four main desert habitat types—soils, sediments, salts, and rocks—and the extreme microbiology living within them, with a particular focus on the hyperarid Atacama Desert and Dry Valleys of Antarctica, the driest and coldest limits for life on Earth. We construct habitat maps of Mars from an ecological perspective and the first estimates of study sample sizes of key habitats from historical and recent Mars orbiter and lander imagery and data. We review the lessons that can be drawn for the search for life on Mars from decades of microbial ecology work in end-member terrestrial deserts.
Document ID
20220011941
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Book Chapter
Authors
K. Warren-Rhodes
(Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Mountain View, California, United States)
M. Phillips
(Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory North Laurel, Maryland, United States)
A. Davila
(Ames Research Center Mountain View, California, United States)
C. P. McKay
(Ames Research Center Mountain View, California, United States)
Date Acquired
August 3, 2022
Publication Date
July 29, 2022
Publication Information
Publication: Ecological Studies: Microbiology of Hot Deserts
Publisher: Springer Cham
Volume: 244
Issue Publication Date: July 29, 2022
ISSN: 0070-8356
e-ISSN: 2196-971X
ISBN: 978-3-030-98414-4
e-ISBN: 978-3-030-98415-1
Subject Category
Exobiology
Funding Number(s)
WBS: 811073.02.52.01.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Use by or on behalf of the US Gov. Permitted.
Technical Review
Professional Review
Keywords
Deserts
Mars
Life
Habitability
Atacama
Antarctica

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