What is a biocrust? A refined, contemporary definition for a broadening research community

B Weber, J Belnap, B Büdel, AJ Antoninka… - Biological …, 2022 - Wiley Online Library
Studies of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) have proliferated over the last few decades. The
biocrust literature has broadened, with more studies assessing and describing the function …

Cyanobacterial inoculation (cyanobacterisation): perspectives for the development of a standardized multifunctional technology for soil fertilization and desertification …

F Rossi, H Li, Y Liu, R De Philippis - Earth-Science Reviews, 2017 - Elsevier
The use of cyanobacteria as soil conditioners has been studied intermittently for many
decades. Some of the documented direct effects of cyanobacterial inoculation are related to …

Plant root mechanisms and their effects on carbon and nutrient accumulation in desert ecosystems under changes in land use and climate

A Tariq, C Graciano, J Sardans, F Zeng… - New …, 2024 - Wiley Online Library
Deserts represent key carbon reservoirs, yet as these systems are threatened this has
implications for biodiversity and climate change. This review focuses on how these changes …

Decline in biological soil crust N-fixing lichens linked to increasing summertime temperatures

R Finger-Higgens, MC Duniway… - Proceedings of the …, 2022 - National Acad Sciences
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts), comprised of mosses, lichens, and cyanobacteria, are key
components to many dryland communities. Climate change and other anthropogenic …

Towards a predictive framework for biocrust mediation of plant performance: A meta‐analysis

CA Havrilla, VB Chaudhary, S Ferrenberg… - Journal of …, 2019 - Wiley Online Library
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 …

Microbial biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen in arid ecosystems

JB Ramond, K Jordaan, B Díez… - Microbiology and …, 2022 - Am Soc Microbiol
Arid ecosystems cover∼ 40% of the Earth's terrestrial surface and store a high proportion of
the global nitrogen (N) pool. They are low-productivity, low-biomass, and polyextreme …

The microbiology of biological soil crusts

F Garcia-Pichel - Annual review of microbiology, 2023 - annualreviews.org
Biological soil crusts are thin, inconspicuous communities along the soil atmosphere
ecotone that, until recently, were unrecognized by ecologists and even more so by …

A symbiotic nutrient exchange within the cyanosphere microbiome of the biocrust cyanobacterium, Microcoleus vaginatus

C Nelson, A Giraldo-Silva, F Garcia-Pichel - The ISME Journal, 2021 - academic.oup.com
Microcoleus vaginatus plays a prominent role as both primary producer and pioneer in
biocrust communities from dryland soils. And yet, it cannot fix dinitrogen, essential in often …

Biological soil crusts: diminutive communities of potential global importance

S Ferrenberg, CL Tucker… - Frontiers in Ecology and …, 2017 - Wiley Online Library
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are widespread, diverse communities of cyanobacteria,
fungi, lichens, and mosses living on soil surfaces, primarily in drylands. Biocrusts can locally …

Biological soil crust and disturbance controls on surface hydrology in a semi‐arid ecosystem

AM Faist, JE Herrick, J Belnap, JW Van Zee… - …, 2017 - Wiley Online Library
Biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) play an important role in surface hydrologic
processes in dryland ecosystems and can be dramatically altered with soil surface …