Plant life on gypsum: a review of its multiple facets

A Escudero, S Palacio, FT Maestre… - Biological …, 2015 - Wiley Online Library
The adaptation of plants to particular soil types has long intrigued biologists. Gypsum soils
occupy large areas in many regions of the world and host a striking biological diversity, but …

Grazing and ecosystem service delivery in global drylands

FT Maestre, Y Le Bagousse-**uet… - Science, 2022 - science.org
Grazing represents the most extensive use of land worldwide. Yet its impacts on ecosystem
services remain uncertain because pervasive interactions between grazing pressure …

Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

FT Maestre, JL Quero, NJ Gotelli, A Escudero, V Ochoa… - Science, 2012 - science.org
Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain
multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools …

Photoautotrophic organisms control microbial abundance, diversity, and physiology in different types of biological soil crusts

S Maier, A Tamm, D Wu, J Caesar, M Grube… - The ISME …, 2018 - academic.oup.com
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) cover about 12% of the Earth's land masses, thereby
providing ecosystem services and affecting biogeochemical fluxes on a global scale. They …

Changes in biocrust cover drive carbon cycle responses to climate change in drylands

FT Maestre, C Escolar, ML de Guevara… - Global change …, 2013 - Wiley Online Library
Dryland ecosystems account for ca. 27% of global soil organic carbon (C) reserves, yet it is
largely unknown how climate change will impact C cycling and storage in these areas. In …

Species richness effects on ecosystem multifunctionality depend on evenness, composition and spatial pattern

FT Maestre, AP Castillo‐Monroy, MA Bowker… - Journal of …, 2012 - Wiley Online Library
Recent studies have suggested that the simultaneous maintenance of multiple ecosystem
functions (multifunctionality) is positively supported by species richness. However, little is …

Production of greenhouse‐grown biocrust mosses and associated cyanobacteria to rehabilitate dryland soil function

A Antoninka, MA Bowker, SC Reed… - Restoration …, 2016 - Wiley Online Library
Mosses are an often‐overlooked component of dryland ecosystems, yet they are common
members of biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) and provide key ecosystem …

Warming reduces the growth and diversity of biological soil crusts in a semi-arid environment: implications for ecosystem structure and functioning

C Escolar, I Martínez, MA Bowker… - … Transactions of the …, 2012 - royalsocietypublishing.org
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are key biotic components of dryland ecosystems worldwide
that control many functional processes, including carbon and nitrogen cycling, soil …

Bacteria and fungi differentially contribute to carbon and nitrogen cycles during biological soil crust succession in arid ecosystems

L Zhao, Y Liu, Z Wang, S Yuan, J Qi, W Zhang, Y Wang… - Plant and Soil, 2020 - Springer
Abstract Aims Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are widely considered critical for soil fertility in
arid ecosystems. However, how microbial communities regulate the C and N cycles during …

Carbon budgets of biological soil crusts at micro-, meso-, and global scales

LG Sancho, J Belnap, C Colesie, J Raggio… - Biological soil crusts: an …, 2016 - Springer
The importance of biocrusts in the ecology of arid lands across all continents is widely
recognized. In spite of this broad distribution, contributions of biocrusts to the global …