The effect of sand grain size on the development of cyanobacterial biocrusts

Rozenstein, Offer; Zaady, Eli; Katra, Itzhak; Karnieli, Arnon; Adamowski, Jan; Yizhaq, Hezi

doi:10.1016/j.aeolia.2014.08.003

Cited by 87 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…The presence of medium sands and gravels in the soils of the medium aridity site can partially prevent the establishment of dark cyanobacteria, as Rozenstein et al (2014) reported. However, the absence of DC and LI in our sequence of temporal EXs was surprising.…”

Section: Biocrusts Recover In a Few Years After Grazing Abandonmentsupporting

confidence: 53%

Grazing pressure interacts with aridity to determine the development and diversity of biological soil crusts in Patagonian rangelands

et al. 2019

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Grazing is directly related to land degradation and desertification in global drylands.Grazing impacts on vascular plants, reasonably well-known, depend on its intensity and are modulated by local aridity conditions. However, we do not know how the interplay of grazing intensity and aridity affect biocrusts, topsoil assemblages dominated by cyanobacteria, lichens, and mosses that provide key ecosystem services in drylands. Here, we determined how grazing affects biomass, total cover, and richness of biocrust structural types across a regional aridity gradient in the Patagonian steppe. On average, grazing by sheep reduced biocrust biomass, total cover and richness of structural types by 55, 90, and 59%, respectively. In general, high grazing pressures had a larger impact on biocrusts than moderate or light grazing pressures.For example, biocrust cover was reduced by 85, 89, and 98% by light, moderate, and high grazing pressures, respectively. Although a slightly different response to grazing was observed under low aridity conditions, these more benign climatic conditions did not compensate for the negative effects of trampling by domestic animals on biocrusts.Nonetheless, estimated biocrust recovery rates under medium aridity conditions were faster than previously thought: it took 24, 18, and 58 years to double biocrust biomass, total cover, and richness of structural types. Sheep cannot be just removed in Patagonian rangelands because the production of meat and wool represents the main local economic activity. But landowners must consider our results to protect the ecosystem functions and services provided by biocrusts for future generations to come. K E Y W O R D Saridity, biocrusts, grazing intensity, Patagonian steppe, recovery rates

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Section: Biocrusts Recover In a Few Years After Grazing Abandonmentsupporting

confidence: 53%

Grazing pressure interacts with aridity to determine the development and diversity of biological soil crusts in Patagonian rangelands

et al. 2019

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“…The vulnerability of crusts to disturbance varies according to soil texture and moisture; grain size in particular effects biological soil crust establishment. Fine‐grained particles promote cyanobacterial crust development faster than coarse grained substrates (Rozenstein et al ); consequently, succession is quicker in areas with fine soils (Belnap & Eldridge ). However, our results suggest that in the initial stages of biological soil crust recovery, climatic factors are more important.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing recovery of biological soil crusts across a latitudinal gradient in Western Europe

Williams

Jung

Zheng

et al. 2017

Restoration Ecology

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Biological soil crusts are ecologically important communities in areas where vascular plant coverage is low, and their presence is often vital in prevention of soil erosion. Despite recurrent threats to biological soil crusts across different environments, their recovery after disturbance has been little studied. We therefore established experiments across a latitudinal gradient in Europe, from Öland, Sweden in the north, to Gössenheim, Germany and Hochtor, Austria, to Almeria, Spain in the south, spanning over 20 ∘ latitude and 2,300 m in altitude, and including natural and semi-natural sites. At each site 10 (1 × 1m)paired plots were constructed where the biological soil crusts were either completely removed, or left intact. Over a 2-year period (2012–2014) the plots were regularly sampled to assess functional group recovery (cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes, vascular plants), soil stability, and chlorophyll, carbon, and nutrient contents. Cyanobacterial assemblages were examined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, a technique used to detect DNA in environmental samples. The results indicated that recovery was site dependent, suggesting that physical and climatic parameters play a major role in biological soil crust recovery. This conclusion is supported by the results of the soil properties, which were found to differ between sites, although they did not show meaningful recovery over the study period. Although 2 years was insufcient for pronounced biological soil crust recovery, this study documents changes over the initial recovery period, suggests management practices for future projects, and recommends proxies for measuring recovery over time

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“…Biocrusts formation is a successional process, generally beginning with the primary colonization of the surface by filamentous cyanobacteria (Rozenstein et al, 2014b), followed by more photoautotrophic organisms. Thus, as biocrusts develop, the make-up of these microphytic communities evolves into diverse compositions of cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, green algae, microfungi, and bacteria (Belnap and Lange, 2001;Karnieli et al, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%