Effects of biological soil crust and water availability on seedlings of three perennial Patagonian species

Peter, Guadalupe; Leder, Cintia Vanesa; Funk, Flavia Alejandra

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.10.015

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Biological soil crusts are autotrophic communities composed of cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, and mosses that regulate many functional processes of desert ecosystems (Escolar, Martinez, Bowker, & Maestre, 2012;West, 1990), including carbon cycling (Chamizo, Rodríguez-Caballero, Románc, & Cantón, 2017;Housman, Powers, Collins, & Belnap, 2006;Li, Zhang, Su, & Jia, 2012), nitrogen cycling (Belnap, 2002;Delgado-Baquerizo, Morillas, Maestre, & Gallardo, 2013;Su, Zhao, Li, Li, & Huang, 2011), soil stabilization (Hu, Liu, Song, & Zhang, 2002), and infiltration (Li, He, Stefan, Li, & Liu, 2010;Maestre, Huesca, Zaady, Beautista, & Cortina, 2002;Yair, 2003). As ecosystem engineers associated with both abiotic and biotic processes (Bowker, Maestre, & Escolar, 2010;Li et al, 2012;Zhang, Jia, & Yu, 2016), BSCs play vital roles in arid desert ecosystems through their effects on both ecological (Bowker, Belnap, Davidson, & Philips, 2005;Elbert et al, 2012;West, 1990) and hydrological processes (Bowker et al, 2014;Chamizo, Cantón, Rodríguez-Caballero, & Domingo, 2016;Kidron & Tal, 2012;Kidron & Benenson, 2014;Peter, Leder, & Funk, 2016;Vies, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

Hydrological response of biological soil crusts to global warming: A ten‐year simulative study

Jia

Zhang

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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Biological soil crusts across the desert regions play a key role in regional ecological security and ecological health. They are vital biotic components of desert ecosystems that maintain soil stability, fix carbon and nitrogen, influence the establishment of vascular plants, and serve as habitats for a large number of arthropods and microorganisms, as well as influencing soil hydrological processes. Changes in temperature and precipitation are expected to influence the functioning of desert ecosystems by altering biotic components such as the species composition of biological soil crusts. However, it remains unclear how these important components will respond to the prolonged warming and reduced precipitation that is predicted to occur with climate change. To evaluate how the hydrological properties of these biological soil crusts respond to these alterations, we used open-top chambers over a 10-year period to simulate warming and reduced precipitation. Infiltration, dew entrapment, and evaporation were measured as surrogates of the hydrological functioning of biological soil crusts. It was found that the ongoing warming coupled with reduced precipitation will more strongly affect moss in crustal communities than lichens and cyanobacteria, which will lead to a direct alteration of the hydrological performance of biological soil crusts. Reductions in moss abundance, surface cover, and biomass resulted in a change in structure and function of crustal communities, decreased dew entrapment, and increased infiltration and evaporation of biological soil crusts in desert ecosystems, which further impacted on the desert soil water balance.

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confidence: 99%

Hydrological response of biological soil crusts to global warming: A ten‐year simulative study

Jia

Zhang

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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“…It is, however, difficult to generalise about BSC effects within a given ecosystem, as past research has produced varied results (Prasse & Bornkamm, ). For instance, crusts have been shown to have passive, inhibitory or facilitative effects on soil seed bank composition, seed germination and seedling emergence (Facelli & Springbett, ; Li, Jia, Long, & Zerbe, ; Peter, Leder, & Funk, ). Crust interactions with soils and ecological processes vary between ecosystems (Eldridge & Greene, ), and interactions with plants are often species‐specific (Escudero, Martinez, de la Cruz, Otalora, & Maestre, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thirdly, some studies have examined the effects of crust disturbance on seedling emergence in arid ecosystems and found that disturbance leads to increased emergence, suggesting the crust may act as a physical barrier (Facelli & Springbett, ). Finally, although BSC has been shown to have mixed effects on seedling survivorship (Godinez‐Alvarez et al., ; Langhans, Storm, & Schwabe, ; Peter et al., ), it is reasonable to expect that seedlings may benefit from reduced surface evaporation due to crust presence and this is likely to support survivorship. Consequently, we developed four hypotheses:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological soil crust and vascular plant interactions in Western Myall (Acacia papyrocarpa) open woodland in South Australia

Steggles

Ainsley

Pound

2019

J Vegetation Science

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Aim: Biological soil crust (BSC) is a key component of arid environments and plays a major role in determining ecological structure and function. Our research aim was to examine several mechanisms that contribute to BSC-plant interactions at species and community levels, to increase our understanding of plant community dynamics.Location: Yellabinna Regional Reserve, South Australia (30°50′17.99″ S, 132°12′10.37″ E). Methods:We used seed extraction techniques to examine soil seed banks beneath patches with and without BSC, and field and glasshouse experiments to study the effects of crust presence and disturbance on seedling emergence and survival. We also explored the influence of chemical leachates from BSC on seed germination. Results:Biological soil crust plays a pivotal role in influencing spatial patterns in soil seed bank composition. Our results showed less propagules accumulate in soils beneath crust when compared with patches without crust, and that propagule size is a contributing factor to determining their distribution between patch types. We found that late-stage BSC physically inhibited seedling emergence, which increased when the BSC was disturbed in field experiments. Low seedling survivorship in both patch types suggests that although BSC may suppress recruitment in favourable years, it is low precipitation levels that have the over-riding impact on recruitment success.Finally, leachates from late-stage BSC were found to inhibit germination in three annual plant species, whilst early-stage BSC accelerated germination in one annual plant. This clearly shows that leachate effects on seed germination vary according to plant species and crust successional stage. Conclusion:Overall, we identified several mechanisms through which BSC has complex effects on the annual and short-lived perennial plant guilds of arid lands. These mechanisms contribute to species diversity through the creation of spatial heterogeneity in soil seed bank structure and emergence opportunities. K E Y W O R D S allelopathy, arid ecology, biological soil crust, chemical leachates, chenopod shrubland, microphytic crust, plant community structure, seed germination, seedling emergence, soil seed banks | 757 Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of the article. Appendix S1. Nomenclature used to classify BSC types and successional stages, and images of surface types examined in this study Appendix S2. Summary of treatments used to investigate the effects of BSC leachates on seed germination, and seed descriptions and their pre-treatments Appendix S3. Mean number of seedlings per taxon recorded in field quadrats and cores Appendix S4. Patterns of seedling emergence and survival recorded in field quadrats over a nine month period How to cite this article: Steggles EK, Facelli JM, Ainsley PJ, Pound LM. Biological soil crust and vascular plant interactions in Western Myall (Acacia papyrocarpa) open woodland in South Australia. J Veg Sci. 2019;30:756-764.

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“…En el suelo, tiene un rol importante al estabilizar la superficie y, en consecuencia, reducir la erosión (Johansen, 1993). También existen evidencias sobre la influencia de la cobertura criptogámica en el establecimiento de plantas vasculares mediante procesos de facilitación para la retención de humedad o la protección de la semilla o la plántula principalmente en ecosistemas áridos y semiáridos (Belnap y Lange, 2001;Harper y Belnap, 2001;Peter, Leder, Funk, 2016), existiendo muy poca información en climas templados o de montaña (Calabrese y Rovere, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Impacto del fuego sobre la vegetación no vascular del suelo: un caso de estudio en los bosques de Polylepis australis (Rosaceae) del centro de Argentina

Perazzo

Rodríguez

2019

LIL

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La vegetación no vascular está formada por líquenes, musgos, algas y cianobacterias tanto epífitas, como creciendo sobre el suelo. El objetivo de este trabajo fue estimar los cambios producidos por el fuego en la cobertura de briófitos y líquenes del suelo en parcelas de bosques de Polylepis australis (tabaquillo) en el Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito (PNQC) en el centro de Argentina. En un sector del Área Protegida incendiado en setiembre de 2015 se seleccionaron 40 parcelas de 30 x 30 m, 20 en bosques no quemados y 20 en bosques quemados. Quince meses después del siniestro, en cada parcela se seleccionaron al azar cinco cuadrados de 2 x 2 m para estimar cobertura en suelo diferenciando líquenes y briófitos. Además, se registraron la cobertura de plantas vasculares, suelo desnudo y mantillo. Como variables explicativas se midió la orientación y pendiente en cada cuadrado y en cada parcela. Además, se estimó la cobertura de bosque previo al incendio y la severidad del fuego. Los resultados muestran una muy baja superficie ocupada por líquenes y briófitos en el suelo afectado por el fuego a pesar de la recuperación de la vegetación vascular. La cobertura de líquenes y briófitos varían en función de características del micrositio tanto en parcelas quemadas como no quemadas. Se discute el posible impacto de la pérdida de esta cobertura en el ecosistema de bosque de Polylepis.

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Effects of biological soil crust and water availability on seedlings of three perennial Patagonian species

Cited by 13 publications

References 16 publications

Hydrological response of biological soil crusts to global warming: A ten‐year simulative study

Hydrological response of biological soil crusts to global warming: A ten‐year simulative study

Biological soil crust and vascular plant interactions in Western Myall (Acacia papyrocarpa) open woodland in South Australia

Impacto del fuego sobre la vegetación no vascular del suelo: un caso de estudio en los bosques de Polylepis australis (Rosaceae) del centro de Argentina

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