Community ecology has experienced a major transition, from a focus on patterns in
taxonomic composition, to revealing the processes underlying community assembly through …

Drylands are arid and semi-arid areas whose main feature is their low level of precipitation.
They cover nearly half of Earth's land surface and are distributed worldwide, constituting the …

Understanding the importance of biotic interactions in driving the distribution and
abundance of species is a central goal of plant ecology. Early vascular plants likely …

The increase in aridity predicted with climate change will have a negative impact on the
multiple functions and services (multifunctionality) provided by dryland ecosystems …

Biocrusts and vascular plants interact on many levels. The nature and consequences of
these interactions vary with biocrust and plant characteristics and environmental conditions …

Biocrusts are phototroph‐driven communities inhabiting arid soil surfaces. Like plants, most
photoautotrophs (largely cyanobacteria) in biocrusts are thought to exchange fixed carbon …

It is well‐known that vascular plants have species‐specific effects on soil properties.
However, little is known on how individual species forming biocrusts, communities …

Biological soil crusts are a thin layer within the soil system but strongly determine the
infiltration, runoff and water and solute movement. Little is known about the role of biological …

Knowledge of structure and function of microbial communities in different successional
stages of biological soil crusts (BSCs) is still scarce for desert areas. In this study, Illumina …

Salinity, water scarcity in the summer season, and grazing pressure are major problems in
semi-arid ecosystems in the south-east region of the Caspian Sea where the Alagol …