Exploring some relationships between biological soil crusts, soil aggregation and wind erosion

Eldridge, David J.; Leys, John

doi:10.1006/jare.2002.1068

Cited by 202 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In this study, increased rock cover, coarser soil particles, and subsurface soil stability (an indication of the inherent stability of the soil) also significantly decreased wind erosion. While physical crusts can also be important in stabilizing soils (Eldridge and Leys, 2003), we did not directly measure them and so are unable to quantitatively assess their importance at these sites. When all factors were considered together, however, soil texture was the most important in predicting the wind erodibility of these sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, there is little information on what level might be appropriate. Eldridge and Leys (2003) suggest losses over 5 g soil/m 2 soil surface are to be avoided. This study and recent studies at both the plot (Belnap et al, unpublished work) and landscape level (Chavez et al, unpublished work) throughout the Mojave Desert show that most soil surfaces in this desert produce very little sediment unless they are disturbed, regardless of lithology, surface age, landscape position or sediment type (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wind erodibility of soils at Fort Irwin, California (Mojave Desert), USA, before and after trampling disturbance: implications for land management

Belnap

Phillips

Herrick

et al. 2006

Earth Surf Processes Landf

105

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Recently disturbed and 'control' (i.e. less recently disturbed) soils in the Mojave Desert were compared for their vulnerability to wind erosion, using a wind tunnel, before and after being experimentally trampled. Before trampling, control sites had greater cyanobacterial biomass, soil surface stability, threshold friction velocities (TFV; i.e. the wind speed required to move soil particles), and sediment yield than sites that had been more recently disturbed by military manoeuvres. After trampling, all sites showed a large drop in TFVs and a concomitant increase in sediment yield. Simple correlation analyses showed that the decline in TFVs and the rise in sediment yield were significantly related to cyanobacterial biomass (as indicated by soil chlorophyll a). However, chlorophyll a amounts were very low compared to chlorophyll a amounts found at cooler desert sites, where chlorophyll a is often the most important factor in determining TFV and sediment yield. Multiple regression analyses showed that other factors at Fort Irwin were more important than cyanobacterial biomass in determining the overall site susceptibility to wind erosion. These factors included soil texture (especially the fine, medium and coarse sand fractions), rock cover, and the inherent stability of the soil (as indicated by subsurface soil stability tests). Thus, our results indicate that there is a threshold of biomass below which cyanobacterial crusts are not the dominant factor in soil vulnerability to wind erosion. Most undisturbed soil surfaces in the Mojave Desert region produce very little sediment, but even moderate disturbance increases soil loss from these sites. Because current weathering rates and dust inputs are very low, soil formation rates are low as well. Therefore, soil loss in this region is likely to have long-term effects. Published in 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind erodibility of soils at Fort Irwin, California (Mojave Desert), USA, before and after trampling disturbance: implications for land management

Belnap

Phillips

Herrick

et al. 2006

Earth Surf Processes Landf

105

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“…These organisms strongly influence key functional processes, including C and N cycling, soil stabilization and infiltration [6,73,150]. Despite the multiple ecosystem processes and organisms affected by them, relatively few experimental studies have evaluated the response of BSC constituents to global change drivers, and most of them have been carried out in drylands from North America and Australia [64,[151][152][153][154]. Escolar et al [65] evaluated how the composition, structure and performance of lichen-dominated BSCs respond to predicted climatic changes in semi-arid, central Spain.…”

Section: Research Gaps and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

It is getting hotter in here: determining and projecting the impacts of global environmental change on drylands

Maestre

Salguero‐Gómez

Quero

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

264

209

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Drylands occupy large portions of the Earth, and are a key terrestrial biome from the socio-ecological point of view. In spite of their extent and importance, the impacts of global environmental change on them remain poorly understood. In this introduction, we review some of the main expected impacts of global change in drylands, quantify research efforts on the topic, and highlight how the articles included in this theme issue contribute to fill current gaps in our knowledge. Our literature analyses identify key under-studied areas that need more research (e.g. countries such as Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Somalia, and deserts such as the Thar, Kavir and Taklamakan), and indicate that most global change research carried out to date in drylands has been done on a unidisciplinary basis. The contributions included here use a wide array of organisms (from micro-organisms to humans), spatial scales (from local to global) and topics (from plant demography to poverty alleviation) to examine key issues to the socio-ecological impacts of global change in drylands. These papers highlight the complexities and difficulties associated with the prediction of such impacts. They also identify the increased use of long-term experiments and multidisciplinary approaches as priority areas for future dryland research. Major advances in our ability to predict and understand global change impacts on drylands can be achieved by explicitly considering how the responses of individuals, populations and communities will in turn affect ecosystem services. Future research should explore linkages between these responses and their effects on water and climate, as well as the provisioning of services for human development and well-being.

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“…They can have important impacts on ecological function through physiological or physical processes. For example, BSCs can bind soil particles to protect the surface soil from wind and water erosion (Belnap and Gardner 1993;Eldridge and Leys 2002;Veluci et al 2006;Mazor et al 1996); fix nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) to increase soil nutrients and C storage (Austin et al 2004;Hawkes 2003;Evans and Ehleringer 1993;Lange et al 1994); modify the balance between water run-off and infiltration (Kidron and Yair 1997;Eldridge and Greene 1994); and influence soil roughness. These changes can create a suitable primitive habitat for vascular plant growth, which influence on seed germination and establishment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alterations to biological soil crusts with alpine meadow retrogressive succession affect seeds germination of three plant species

Jingzheng

et al. 2016

J. Mt. Sci.

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Exploring some relationships between biological soil crusts, soil aggregation and wind erosion

Cited by 202 publications

References 24 publications

Wind erodibility of soils at Fort Irwin, California (Mojave Desert), USA, before and after trampling disturbance: implications for land management

Wind erodibility of soils at Fort Irwin, California (Mojave Desert), USA, before and after trampling disturbance: implications for land management

It is getting hotter in here: determining and projecting the impacts of global environmental change on drylands

Alterations to biological soil crusts with alpine meadow retrogressive succession affect seeds germination of three plant species

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