Identifying social–ecological gaps to promote biocrust conservation actions

López‐Rodríguez, María D.; Chamizo, Sonia; Cantón, Yolanda; Rodríguez‐Caballero, Emilio

doi:10.5194/we-20-117-2020

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…We also aimed to quantify the dispersal distance required for species to track their niche. Ultimately, the findings from this study can provide important information for conservation planning to preserve the critical ecosystem functions of lichens and bryophytes (López‐Rodríguez et al, 2020; Rodríguez‐Caballero et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Towards an understanding of future range shifts in lichens and mosses under climate change

Mallen‐Cooper

Rodríguez‐Caballero

Eldridge

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim: Lichens and mosses play important functional roles in all terrestrial ecosystems, particularly in tundra and drylands. As with all taxa, to maintain their current niche in a changing climate, lichens and mosses will have to migrate. However, there are no published estimates of future habitat suitability or necessary rates of migration for members of these groups at the global scale.Taxon: Lichens and mosses. Location: Global.Methods: Using global occurrence data, we conducted ensemble distribution models in the 'biomod2' R package, parameterised with a range of climatic, land use and soil variables, to estimate current and future (2100) habitat suitability in 16 abundant species of lichen and moss.Results: Without considering dispersal limitation, suitable area was forecast to expand for eight species and decline for four species. For species with predominantly boreoarctic distributions, suitable area typically declined at the temperate range edge and expanded across the High Arctic. Future suitable area available to dryland-adapted species generally declined overall, likely relating to the desiccation-tolerant physiology of lichens and mosses. The average migration rates required for species to disperse into new suitable habitat ranged from 1.7 (Placidium squamulosum) to 9.0 km year −1 (Syntrichia ruralis), although most species will need to migrate >16 km year −1 to completely fill their potential future suitable habitat.Main Conclusions: For mosses and lichens, as with all species, migration will be an important part of the adjustment to a warmer climate, but realisation of these potential migrations will require both rare dispersal events and habitat that is suitable in non-climatic dimensions. Current evidence on dispersal in these groups suggests that these geographical shifts may be unlikely to be realised without intervention, especially in landscapes that are highly modified by humans.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Towards an understanding of future range shifts in lichens and mosses under climate change

Mallen‐Cooper

Rodríguez‐Caballero

Eldridge

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Because biocrusts are both imperilled and key to ecosystem functioning, their influence on ecosystems and consequences of their loss should be incorporated into analyses and models of global change (Elbert et al ., 2012; Barger et al ., 2016; Sancho et al ., 2016; Ferrenberg, Tucker & Reed, 2017; Rodriguez‐Caballero et al ., 2018b). Land managers, nature conservation organizations, policy makers, landscape architects, and the broader society need to consider and safeguard biocrusts to sustain the ecosystem services they provide (Lopez‐Rodriguez et al ., 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is a biocrust? A refined, contemporary definition for a broadening research community

et al. 2022

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Studies of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) have proliferated over the last few decades. The biocrust literature has broadened, with more studies assessing and describing the function of a variety of biocrust communities in a broad range of biomes and habitats and across a large spectrum of disciplines, and also by the incorporation of biocrusts into global perspectives and biogeochemical models. As the number of biocrust researchers increases, along with the scope of soil communities defined as 'biocrust', it is worth asking whether we all share a clear, universal, and fully articulated definition of what constitutes a biocrust. In this review, we synthesize the literature with the views of new and experienced biocrust researchers, to provide a refined and fully elaborated definition of biocrusts. In doing so, we illustrate the ecological relevance and ecosystem services provided by them. We demonstrate that biocrusts are defined by four distinct elements: physical structure, functional characteristics, habitat, and taxonomic composition. We describe outgroups, which have some, but not all, of the characteristics necessary to be fully consistent with our definition and thus would not be considered biocrusts. We also summarize the wide variety of different types of communities that fall under our definition of biocrusts, in the process of highlighting their global distribution. Finally, we suggest the universal use of the Belnap, Büdel & Lange definition, with minor modifications: Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) result from an intimate association between soil particles and differing proportions of photoautotrophic (e.g. cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes) and heterotrophic (e.g. bacteria, fungi, archaea) organisms, which live within, or immediately on top of, the uppermost millimetres of soil. Soil particles are aggregated through the presence and activity of these often extremotolerant biota that desiccate regularly, and the resultant living crust covers the surface of the ground as a coherent layer. With this detailed definition of biocrusts, illustrating their ecological functions and widespread distribution, we hope to stimulate interest in biocrust research and inform various stakeholders (e.g. land managers, land users) on their overall importance to ecosystem and Earth system functioning.

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“…Esto puede deberse al gran desconocimiento de la sociedad sobre la existencia e importancia de las biocostras (Rodríguez-Caballero et al 2018b). Además, las evidencias científicas que demuestran su importancia y sensibilidad al cambio global, hasta el momento no han sido transferidas de forma eficaz al ámbito de la gestión y de la sociedad para promover acciones de conservación y educación que contribuyan a su protección (López-Rodríguez et al 2020). Por tanto, es necesario el esfuerzo por parte de la comunidad científica para salvar esta barrera y producir investigaciones que informen mejor a los agentes políticos y a la sociedad en su conjunto sobre el papel de las biocostras, y que los motiven a involucrarse en procesos participativos que faciliten la transferencia del conocimiento desde el ámbito de la academia al de la gestión.…”

Section: Reflexiones Y Retosunclassified

Biocrust restoration: a key tool to recover degraded arid ecosystem functioning

Castilla

Ramos

Román

et al. 2021

ECOS

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Las biocostras son comunidades de organismos autótrofos y heterótrofos que viven en la superficie del 12% de los suelos de la Tierra, donde actúan como ingenieras del ecosistema. Son muy sensibles al cambio climático y a las alteraciones ocasionadas por diferentes actividades antrópicas. En este trabajo, revisamos los impactos de ambos tipos de perturbaciones, que afectan negativamente a los ciclos biogeoquímicos, al balance de agua y al de energía, aceleran los procesos erosivos y la emisión de polvo y reducen la biodiversidad disminuyendo la capacidad de los ecosistemas para proveer servicios. Exploramos la capacidad de estas comunidades para recuperarse naturalmente, que, en general, requiere mucho tiempo el establecimiento de las comunidades de etapas sucesionales más tardías. Por ello, han surgido nuevas biotecnologías para acelerar su restauración, basadas en la inoculación de organismos formadores de biocostra. Se revisan los principales resultados de dos grupos de estrategias atendiendo al origen de los propágulos de biocostras: a) la translocación de fragmentos de biocostras de un área donante en favor de una degradada. Se recomienda para alteraciones planificadas en las que se use la biocostra existente antes de la alteración; b) cultivo a gran escala de organismos formadores de biocostra (cianobacterias, líquenes, musgos o la comunidad completa) en laboratorio o vivero para ser inoculados, posteriormente, en áreas degradadas. Finalmente, se identifican los retos futuros para maximizar el éxito de la restauración y conservación de las biocostras.

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Identifying social–ecological gaps to promote biocrust conservation actions

Cited by 7 publications

References 110 publications

Towards an understanding of future range shifts in lichens and mosses under climate change

Towards an understanding of future range shifts in lichens and mosses under climate change

What is a biocrust? A refined, contemporary definition for a broadening research community

Biocrust restoration: a key tool to recover degraded arid ecosystem functioning

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