Biological soil crusts and how they might colonize other worlds: insights from these Brazilian ecosystem engineers

Abstract

When bryophytes, lichens, eukaryotic algae, cyanobacteria, bacteria and fungi live interacting intimately with the most superficial particles of the soil, they form a complex community of organisms called the biological soil crust (BSC or biocrust). These biocrusts occur predominantly in drylands, where they provide important ecological services such as soil aggregation, moisture retention and nitrogen fixation. Unfortunately, many BSC communities remain poorly explored, especially in the tropics. This review summarizes studies about BSCs in Brazil, a tropical megadiverse country, and shows the importance of ecological, physiological and taxonomic knowledge of biocrusts. We also compare Brazilian BSCs communities to others around the world, describe why BSCs can be considered ecosystem engineers and propose their use in the colonization of other worlds.

Potential of microalgae and cyanobacteria to improve soil health and agricultural productivity: a critical view

“…Together with these strategies, the soil fertility improvements by biocrusts make them excellent agents for practical applications to control desertification. 126 Recently, De Oliveira and Maciel-Silva 127 compared the Brazilian biocrust communities with that from different ecosystems and proposed the utilization of biocrusts as ‘ecosystem engineers’ for colonizing other ecosystems. The meta-analysis of the biocrusts suggested that the soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration increased by 70.9% compared to the uncrusted soil, and the random forest analysis showed that the total N was an essential determinant of the concentration of SOC, followed by climate ( p < 0.01).…”

Glutamate dehydrogenase in “Liverworld”—A study in selected species to explore a key enzyme of plant primary metabolism in Marchantiophyta

“…Due to their unique physiology and ecology, bryophytes serve as ecosystem engineers, providing important ecological services including nitrogen and carbon fixation (Barger et al, 2016; Benalp, 2001; Oliveira & Maciel‐Silva, 2022). It is quite clear that they differ from vascular species in influencing the cycling of elements and energy flow, but the metabolic strategies that make them such talented colonizers have been only partially explored (Degola et al, 2022).…”

Seasonal variation in soil algal community structure in different forest plantations in subtropic China

“…The principal function of soil algal communities in promote soil formation and biochemical processes include dinitrogen fixation, stabilization of aggregates, mineralization of organic matter, elevate soil air and water retention capacity, improve soil microbial activity and structure, et al (Metting, 1981;Glaser et al, 2018;Alvarez et al, 2021). Thereafter, algae play an important role in soil and vegetation restoration in waste rock dumps and anthropogenically disturbed lands (Carvalhido et al, 2021;Oliveira and Maciel-Silva, 2022). Making clear soil algal community composition and its influencing factors in forest ecosystems is of great significance for better understanding their ecological functions.…”