Southern African Biological Soil Crusts are Ubiquitous and Highly Diverse in Drylands, Being Restricted by Rainfall Frequency

Abstract

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are found in all dryland regions of the world, including the polar regions. They are also known to occur in the southern African region. Although there were a number of case studies on BSCs from that region, we did not know if they are a normal part of the vegetation cover or just a phenomenon that occasionally occurs here and there. In order to investigate diversity, distribution patterns, and the driving factors of both, we followed a random sampling system of observatories along a transect, stretching from the Namibian-Angolan border down south to the Cape Peninsula, covering seven different major biomes. Biological soil crusts were found to occur in six out of seven biomes. Despite the fact that soil-dwelling algae occurred in the Fynbos biome, crust formation was not observed for hitherto unknown reasons. Seven BSC types were distinguished on the basis of morphology and taxonomic composition: three of them were cyanobacteria-dominated, one with additional chlorolichens, two with bryophytes, one hypolithic type restricted to quartz gravel pavements, and the unique lichen fields of the Namib Desert. Besides 29 green algal species in 21 genera, one heterokont alga, 12 cyanolichens, 14 chlorolichens, two genera of liverworts, and three genera of mosses, these crusts are positioned among the most diverse BSCs worldwide mainly because of the unusual high cyanobacterial species richness comprising 58 species in 21 genera. They contribute considerably to the biodiversity of arid and semi-arid bioregions. Taxonomic diversity of cyanobacteria was significantly higher in the winter rain zone than in the summer rain zone (54 versus 32 species). The soil photosynthetic biomass (chlorophylla/m2), the carbon content of the soil and the number of BSC types were significantly higher in the winter rain zone (U27, 29=215.0, p=0.004 [chla]; U21, 21=135.0, p=0.031 [C]; U27, 29=261.5, p=0.028 [BSC types]; excluding the fog-dominated Namib biome). The winter rain zone is characterized by a lower precipitation amount, but a higher rain frequency with the number of rainy days more evenly distributed over the year. The dry period is significantly shorter per year in the winter rain zone (U8, 9=5.0, p=0.003). We conclude that rain frequency and duration of dry periods rather than the precipitation amount is the main factor for BSC growth and succession. Nitrogen content of the soils along the transect was generally very low and correlated with soil carbon content. There was a weak trend that an increasing proportion of silt and clay (<0.63 mm) in the soil is associated with higher values of BSC chlorophyll content (Pearson correlation coefficient=0.314, p=0.237). Furthermore, we found a significant positive correlation between silt and clay and the number of BSC types (Pearson correlation coefficient=0.519, p=0.039), suggesting that fine grain-size promotes BSC succession and their biomass content. Lichens and bryophytes occurred in BSCs with lower disturbance frequencies (e.g. trampling) only. Crust thic...

Assessing Level of Development and Successional Stages in Biological Soil Crusts with Biological Indicators

“…In BSCs, prokaryotic cyanobacteria, eukaryotic microalgae, lichens, and mosses all belong to photosynthetic organisms, showing an increasing trend with the development and succession of BSCs, consistent with the reports of Belnap et al [17] and Büdel et al [42]. However, Langhans et al [43] did not find the increase, and we speculated that was caused by the removal of the moss plants in their experiments, because lichens and mosses contributed more to the photosynthetic biomass of BSCs than cyanobacteria and microalgae [42].…”

“…However, Langhans et al [43] did not find the increase, and we speculated that was caused by the removal of the moss plants in their experiments, because lichens and mosses contributed more to the photosynthetic biomass of BSCs than cyanobacteria and microalgae [42]. In our other experiment [19], when we removed the moss plants, the Chl-a content of BSCs (only represented cyanobacterial and microalgal biomass) also decreased with the succession of BSCs, consistent with our present direct observation under a microscope.…”

The deterioration of Circular Mausoleum, Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Spain

“…and Oculatella sp., have thick mucilaginous sheath and cells are encased in a protective extracellular matrix composed predominantly of polysaccharides. This matrix protects the cells from desiccation (Büdel et al 2009;Albertano, 2012).…”

Ethanol outperforms multiple solvents in the extraction of chlorophyll-a from biological soil crusts

“…Wright et al, 1997;Hawkes, 2001;Bowker et al, 2002;Liu et al, 2008). However, it is difficult to compare such Chl-a data between different studies, because ethanol (Chen et al, 2006;Xie et al, 2007), acetone (Tsujimura et al, 2000), DMF (Wang et al, 2007) and DMSO (Büdel et al, 2009;Langhans et al, 2009) have all been used as Chla solvents in such studies. The extraction efficiencies of different solvents have been confirmed to be different in aquatic ecosystems (including the pure algae cultures; Shoaf, 1976;Schumann et al, 2005;Li et al, 2006;Yang et al, 2007), but have not been adequately examined in BSCs or soils.…”