Photosynthesis of cryptobiotic soil crusts in a seasonally inundated system of pans and dunes in the western Mojave Desert, CA: Field studies

Brostoff, William N.; Rundel, Philip W.

doi:10.1016/j.flora.2005.06.008

Cited by 40 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…All of these result in various ecophysiological responses which could derive directly from the different adaptation strategy of the two crusts. Previous studies [29,30] reported a similar tendency of the CO 2 assimilation rate of different ecological characteristics of cryptogamic crusts although the authors did not investigate the ability of the layers to tolerate the desiccation and these samples were collected from completely different climatic conditions compared to our samples. Various crusts species have typical responses to environmental factors resulting in different C gain under the same environmental conditions that were also reflected in our results.…”

Section: Net Co 2 Assimilation Responsesmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Despite their importance only a few studies are interested in the ecophysiology of cyanobacterial crust communities of the tropical and subtropical inselberg rock surfaces [7,9,19,21,[26][27][28] and seasonally inundated system of plans and dunes [29,30]. Most studies deal with the photosynthesis of the cryptogamic crusts under laboratory conditions [29] while only few characterize the photosynthesis of free-living cyanobacteria under natural conditions in the tropical field [7,21,28,31] and desert [11,13,30]. In addition, as BSCs dry out more slowly due to their embedment to the rock or soil surfaces (under their natural habitats) and therefore may retain water longer than lichens and mosses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecophysiological responses of desiccation-tolerant cryptobiotic crusts

et al. 2011

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In our present studies, the recovery of photosynthetic activity after rehydration was demonstrated. We measured chlorophyll fluorescence, CO2 gas exchange and the pigment composition in the previously long-term air-dried cryptogamic inselberg crusts collected from two tropical areas. The cryptobiotic crusts were collected from different localities on similar ecological and climatic conditions from extreme habitats of inselbergs (outcrops). These inselbergs are characterized by a dry microclimate and are covered by scarce soil. We found that the ecophysiological responses of both cryptogamic inselberg crusts showed an extremely high degree of desiccation-tolerance due to the fast and full recovery during rehydration. The photosynthetic activity of the cryptobiotic crusts were restored and regained within 15 and 40 min, respectively, after rehydration. Photosynthetic activity of the crusts was retained at all applied light intensities when enough water was available, however the degree of the recovery was different between the crusts. Photosynthetic pigment contents were strongly and positively correlated with water content. Our results indicated that tropical desiccation-tolerant cryptogamic crusts found on inselberg rock surfaces have CO2 fixation ability in the range of cyanobacteria and lichens, suggesting that at a global scale they can assimilate CO2 in a significant amount.

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Section: Net Co 2 Assimilation Responsesmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecophysiological responses of desiccation-tolerant cryptobiotic crusts

et al. 2011

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“…The global estimate of net carbon uptake by lichens and bryophytes amounts to 0.34 (Gt C) yr −1 for the averageweighting method and 3.3 (Gt C) yr −1 for the maximum- (Oechel and Collins, 1976) Tundra 38.5-171 (2) (Schuur et al, 2007) Tundra 12-60 (3) (Shaver and Chapin III, 1991) Tundra 2-68 (4) (Uchida et al, 2006) Tundra 1.9 (Uchida et al, 2002) Tundra 6.5 (Billings, 1987) Boreal forest 9.7-78 (2) (Bisbee et al, 2001) Boreal forest 25 (Camill et al, 2001) Boreal forest 9.2-75.9 (8) (Gower et al, 1997) Boreal forest 12 (Grigal, 1985) Boreal forest 128-152 (2) (Harden et al, 1997) Boreal forest 60-280 (3) (Bond-Lamberty et al, 2004) Boreal forest 0-297.1 (14) Boreal forest 0.4-16.2 (7) (Oechel and Van Cleve, 1986) Boreal forest 40-44 (2) (Reader and Stewart, 1972) Boreal forest 14.4 (Ruess et al, 2003) Boreal forest 29.2-31.2 (2) (Swanson and Flanagan, 2001) Boreal forest 104 (Szumigalski and Bayley, 1996) Boreal forest 15.2-81.2 (10) (Thormann, 1995) Boreal forest 23.2-73.2 (3) Boreal forest 12-32 (9) (Wieder and Lang, 1983) Boreal forest 216-316 (3) (Brostoff et al, 2005) Desert 11.7 (Garcia-Pichel and Belnap, 1996) Desert 0.54 (Jeffries et al, 1993) Desert 0.07-1.5 (3) (Klopatek, 1992) Desert 5.3-29 (4) (Clark et al, 1998) Tropical forest 37-64 (2) weighting method (for a description of these weighting methods see Sect. 2.3).…”

Section: Modelled Net Carbon Uptakementioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating global carbon uptake by lichens and bryophytes with a process-based model

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Lichens and bryophytes are abundant globally and they may even form the dominant autotrophs in (sub)polar ecosystems, in deserts and at high altitudes. Moreover, they can be found in large amounts as epiphytes in old-growth forests. Here, we present the first process-based model which estimates the net carbon uptake by these organisms at the global scale, thus assessing their significance for biogeochemical cycles. The model uses gridded climate data and key properties of the habitat (e.g. disturbance intervals) to predict processes which control net carbon uptake, namely photosynthesis, respiration, water uptake and evaporation. It relies on equations used in many dynamical vegetation models, which are combined with concepts specific to lichens and bryophytes, such as poikilohydry or the effect of water content on CO 2 diffusivity. To incorporate the great functional variation of lichens and bryophytes at the global scale, the model parameters are characterised by broad ranges of possible values instead of a single, globally uniform value. The predicted terrestrial net uptake of 0.34 to 3.3 Gt yr −1 of carbon and global patterns of productivity are in accordance with empirically-derived estimates. Considering that the assimilated carbon can be invested in processes such as weathering or nitrogen fixation, lichens and bryophytes may play a significant role in biogeochemical cycles.

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“…From these results, two biocrust groups can be distinguished: one where biocrusts experienced net C uptake and the other where biocrusts experienced C loss. Examples from the net C uptake group include a biocrust from the Mojave Desert which gained 11.7 g C m −2 yr −1 (Brostoff et al, 2005), a biocrust in the northern Negev Desert, Israel, with a net C uptake of 0.7-5.1 g m −2 yr −1 (Wilske et al, 2008(Wilske et al, , 2009) and a biocrust from a desert region of north-west China showing a net C uptake of 3.5 to 6.1 g C m −2 yr −1 (Feng et al, 2014). Among the C-losing biocrusts are those of southeast Utah determined to be typical net C sources (Bowling et al, 2011), a biocrust from the Colorado Plateau, USA, also losing 62 ± 8 g C m −2 yr −1 (Darrouzet-Nardi et al, 2015) and finally biocrusts from the Gurbantunggut Desert, north-western China, showed a C release of 48.8 ± 5.4 to 50.9 ± 3.8 g m −2 yr −1 (Su et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual net primary productivity of a cyanobacteria-dominated biological soil crust in the Gulf Savannah, Queensland, Australia

2018

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Abstract. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a common element of the Queensland (Australia) dry savannah ecosystem and are composed of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes, fungi and heterotrophic bacteria. Here we report how the CO 2 gas exchange of the cyanobacteria-dominated biocrust type from Boodjamulla National Park in the north Queensland Gulf Savannah responds to the pronounced climatic seasonality and on their quality as a carbon sink using a semi-automatic cuvette system. The dominant cyanobacteria are the filamentous species Symplocastrum purpurascens together with Scytonema sp. Metabolic activity was recorded between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011, during which CO 2 exchange was only evident from November 2010 until mid-April 2011, representative of 23.6 % of the 1-year recording period. In November at the onset of the wet season, the first month (November) and the last month (April) of activity had pronounced respiratory loss of CO 2 . The metabolic active period accounted for 25 % of the wet season and of that period 48.6 % was net photosynthesis (NP) and 51.4 % dark respiration (DR). During the time of NP, net photosynthetic uptake of CO 2 during daylight hours was reduced by 32.6 % due to water supersaturation. In total, the biocrust fixed 229.09 mmol CO 2 m −2 yr −1 , corresponding to an annual carbon gain of 2.75 g m −2 yr −1 . Due to malfunction of the automatic cuvette system, data from September and October 2010 together with some days in November and December 2010 could not be analysed for NP and DR. Based on climatic and gas exchange data from November 2010, an estimated loss of 88 mmol CO 2 m −2 was found for the 2 months, resulting in corrected annual rates of 143.1 mmol CO 2 m −2 yr −1 , equivalent to a carbon gain of 1.7 g m −2 yr −1 . The bulk of the net photosynthetic activity occurred above a relative humidity of 42 %, indicating a suitable climatic combination of temperature, water availability and light intensity well above 200 µmol photons m −2 s −1 photosynthetic active radiation. The Boodjamulla biocrust exhibited high seasonal variability in CO 2 gas exchange pattern, clearly divided into metabolically inactive winter months and active summer months. The metabolic active period commences with a period (of up to 3 months) of carbon loss, likely due to reestablishment of the crust structure and restoration of NP prior to about a 4-month period of net carbon gain. In the Gulf Savannah biocrust system, seasonality over the year investigated showed that only a minority of the year is actually suitable for biocrust growth and thus has a small window for potential contribution to soil organic matter.

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Photosynthesis of cryptobiotic soil crusts in a seasonally inundated system of pans and dunes in the western Mojave Desert, CA: Field studies

Cited by 40 publications

References 19 publications

Ecophysiological responses of desiccation-tolerant cryptobiotic crusts

Ecophysiological responses of desiccation-tolerant cryptobiotic crusts

Estimating global carbon uptake by lichens and bryophytes with a process-based model

Annual net primary productivity of a cyanobacteria-dominated biological soil crust in the Gulf Savannah, Queensland, Australia

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