Functional responses of biological soil crusts to simulated small precipitation pulses in the Monte desert, Argentina

Aranibar, Julieta N.; Repetur, María J.; Garcia, Vanesa Roxana; Dazat, Ricardo Elia; Videla, María Elena Corvalán; Villagra, Pablo E.

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115660

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…3− -P content in deserts [76]. Other studies have shown that in semi-arid deserts, the moss layer accumulates some AP in the dry season.…”

Section: Effects Of Cryptogam On the Content And Availability Of Phos...mentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Similar to P, K in soil is also mainly derived from the weathering of the parent material, but the difference is that K in soil is more easily lost via precipitation than P [75]. In desert ecosystems, due to the lack of parent material, lichen or moss crust usually increases TOC and TN, but not TP and TK, contents in soil [14][15][16][17]26,76]. Only several studies have found that biological soil crust increases soil TP [18,27] and TK [19,23] contents.…”

Section: Effects Of Cryptogam On the Content And Availability Of Phos...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Cryptogams in Soil Property Regulation and Vascular Plant Regeneration: A Review

Qu,

Duan,

Chen

2023

Applied Sciences

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Despite their small size, cryptogams (lichen, liverwort, and moss) are important for ecosystem stability. Due to their strong stress resistance, cryptogams often cover extreme environments uninhabitable for vascular plants, which has an important impact on the material cycle and energy flow of various terrestrial ecosystems. In this article, we review and discuss the effects of cryptogams on soil properties (moisture and fertility) and vascular plant regeneration over the past two decades. Cryptogams strongly affect soil water content by influencing precipitation infiltration, non-rainfall water input, soil evaporation, soil water holding capacity, and soil permeability, ultimately helping to reduce soil water content in areas with low annual precipitation (<500 mm). However, in areas with high annual precipitation (>600 mm) or where the soil has other water sources, the presence of cryptograms is conducive to soil water accumulation. Cryptogam plants can increase soil fertility and the availability of soil nutrients (TOC, TN, TP, TK, and micronutrients) in harsh environments, but their effects in mild environments have not been sufficiently investigated. Cryptogam plants exert complex effects on vascular plant regeneration in different environments. The primary influence pathways include the physical barrier of seed distribution, shading, allelopathy, competition, influences on ectomycorrhizal development and individual reproduction, and the regulation of soil water content, temperature, and nutrients.

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“…3− -P content in deserts [76]. Other studies have shown that in semi-arid deserts, the moss layer accumulates some AP in the dry season.…”

Section: Effects Of Cryptogam On the Content And Availability Of Phos...mentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Effects Of Cryptogam On the Content And Availability Of Phos...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Cryptogams in Soil Property Regulation and Vascular Plant Regeneration: A Review

Qu,

Duan,

Chen

2023

Applied Sciences

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“…Therefore, BSCs have been considered as ecosystem engineers in some harsh environments ( sensu Jones et al, 1994 ), as they, directly and indirectly, regulate resource availability, while influencing other species, due to the physical and chemical changes they induce on the surrounding soil ( Jones et al, 1997 ; Bowker et al, 2013 ). Biological Soil Crusts can aggregate and stabilize the soil (by reducing soil erosion), while regulating critical soil functions, such as moisture retention and carbon and nitrogen fixation ( Belnap et al, 2001 ; Aranibar et al, 2022 ). This BSC-mediated increase in nutrients and water availability positively affect local plant species ( Song et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Soil Crusts as Ecosystem Engineers in Antarctic Ecosystem

et al. 2022

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Biological soil crusts (BSC) are considered as pivotal ecological elements among different ecosystems of the world. The effects of these BSC at the micro-site scale have been related to the development of diverse plant species that, otherwise, might be strongly limited by the harsh abiotic conditions found in environments with low water availability. Here, we describe for the first time the bacterial composition of BSCs found in the proximities of Admiralty Bay (Maritime Antarctica) through 16S metabarcoding. In addition, we evaluated their effect on soils (nutrient levels, enzymatic activity, and water retention), and on the fitness and performance of Colobanthus quitensis, one of the two native Antarctic vascular plants. This was achieved by comparing the photochemical performance, foliar nutrient, biomass, and reproductive investment between C. quitensis plants growing with or without the influence of BSC. Our results revealed a high diversity of prokaryotes present in these soil communities, although we found differences in terms of their abundances. We also found that the presence of BSCs is linked to a significant increase in soils’ water retention, nutrient levels, and enzymatic activity when comparing with control soils (without BSCs). In the case of C. quitensis, we found that measured ecophysiological performance parameters were significantly higher on plants growing in association with BSCs. Taken together, our results suggest that BSCs in Antarctic soils are playing a key role in various biochemical processes involved in soil development, while also having a positive effect on the accompanying vascular flora. Therefore, BSCs would be effectively acting as ecosystem engineers for the terrestrial Antarctic ecosystem.

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“…Desert biocrust might be classi ed as cyanobacterial crusts, lichen crusts, or moss crusts based on their successional stage and dominant components (Antoninka et al, 2016;Bustos et al 2022;Chiquoine et al, 2016;Kidron, 2015;Zheng et al, 2011). The organisms comprising biocrusts could adapt to extreme environmental conditions such as high temperature, salinity, low precipitation, strong irradiation, and desiccation (Felde et al, 2018;Hui et al, 2022;Ji et al, 2019;Rao et al, 2012;Zhao et al, 2016), they could also x mobile sand dunes as well as alter topsoil moisture and resistance to wind and water erosion, improve carbon and nitrogen xation and nutrient cycling, resulting in improvement of the surrounding environment and regulation of soil microbe abundance and community diversity (Aranibar et al, 2022;Drahorade et al, 2022). Additionally, desert biocrust could improve soil fertility through mineral chelation, dust entrapment, and metabolism, which is bene cial to invertebrates and reptiles, as well as vascular plants (Rajnoch et Accordingly, desert biocrusts were considered a solution for the restoration of degraded desert soil.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance of biological sand-fixing materials before and after inoculation on sandy desert surface

Tao¹,

Ren²,

Ren

2022

Preprint

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Aims Desert biocrust played an important role for the control of desertification. Artificial inoculation can promote the formation of biocrusts. The physiological and growth responses of the inoculated biological sand-fixing materials need to be clarified, and the results are of great significance for the artificial reproduction of desert biocrusts. Methods The chlorophyll-a, thickness and fresh weight of biological sand-fixing materials surface were investigated in order to assess the effecting of mixture ratio, cultivation and inoculation times, and water supply under laboratory conditions. Results The biological sand-sixing material mixed with cultivated algae crust and polymeric composites in 1:1 ratio demonstrated the best performance. Attapulgite clay could significantly promote the growth capacity and chlorophyll-a production of biological sand-fixing materials. The optimal biological sand-fixing material evidently accelerated the most accumulation of chlorophyll-a in 0.55 mg/kg, increase in 3.06 mm and growth of fresh biomass in 0.69 g/cm2, was the most beneficial to formation and development of artificial biocrust. The more water supply always significantly promoted the survival and growth of biological sand-fixing materials. Conclusion The optimally proportioned biological sand-fixing material obviously promoted the most growth and accumulation of chlorophyll-a and biomass under artificial cultivation and inoculation treatments. The most water supply always produced the most chlorophyll-a, thickness and fresh weight, so incubating biocrusts always provided more production of chlorophyll-a, higher thickness and more biomass under more water supply.

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Functional responses of biological soil crusts to simulated small precipitation pulses in the Monte desert, Argentina

Cited by 14 publications

References 47 publications

The Role of Cryptogams in Soil Property Regulation and Vascular Plant Regeneration: A Review

The Role of Cryptogams in Soil Property Regulation and Vascular Plant Regeneration: A Review

Biological Soil Crusts as Ecosystem Engineers in Antarctic Ecosystem

Performance of biological sand-fixing materials before and after inoculation on sandy desert surface

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