Natural Recovery of Biological Soil Crusts After Disturbance

Weber, Bettina; Bowker, Matthew A.; Zhang, Yuanming; Belnap, Jayne

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30214-0_23

Cited by 87 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Natural recovery of biocrusts is a slow process (multiple decades) (Weber et al, 2016a), and the recovery rates may vary widely depending on precipitation, soil texture, or carbon content (Weber et al, 2016a). The recovery stage follows a general successional pattern beginning with surface soil colonisation by mobile Cyanobacteria such as Microcoleus vaginatus (Büdel et al, 2009;Zaady et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydration status and diurnal trophic interactions shape microbial community function in desert biocrusts

Kim

2017

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are selforganised thin assemblies of microbes, lichens, and mosses that are ubiquitous in arid regions and serve as important ecological and biogeochemical hotspots. Biocrust ecological function is intricately shaped by strong gradients of water, light, oxygen, and dynamics in the abundance and spatial organisation of the microbial community within a few millimetres of the soil surface. We report a mechanistic model that links the biophysical and chemical processes that shape the functioning of biocrust representative microbial communities that interact trophically and respond dynamically to cycles of hydration, light, and temperature. The model captures key features of carbon and nitrogen cycling within biocrusts, such as microbial activity and distribution (during early stages of biocrust establishment) under diurnal cycles and the associated dynamics of biogeochemical fluxes at different hydration conditions. The study offers new insights into the highly dynamic and localised processes performed by microbial communities within thin desert biocrusts.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydration status and diurnal trophic interactions shape microbial community function in desert biocrusts

Kim

2017

Biogeosciences

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“…In fact, BSCs may moderate the effects of wildfire if they promote less frequent or severe wildfire by reducing fuel load or preventing invasion by Bromus tectorum (Johansen, 2001). BSCs, particularly functional groups with taller growth forms, are also often quite sensitive to mechanical disturbance (Belnap and Eldridge, 2001;Weber et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recovery following mechanical disturbance can vary with climate, soil texture, disturbance severity, and vascular plant community (Belnap and Eldridge, 2001;Belnap and Warren, 2002;Weber et al, 2016). Long-term trends in recovery following wildfire (or resilience; sensu Millar et al, 2007) are poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of biological soil crust richness and cover 12–16 years after wildfires in Idaho, USA

2017

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Abstract. Changing fire regimes in western North America may impact biological soil crust (BSC) communities that influence many ecosystem functions, such as soil stability and C and N cycling. However, longer-term effects of wildfire on BSC abundance, species richness, functional groups, and ecosystem functions after wildfire (i.e., BSC resilience) are still poorly understood. We sampled BSC lichen and bryophyte communities at four sites in Idaho, USA, within foothill steppe communities that included wildfires from 12 to 16 years old. We established six plots outside each burn perimeter and compared them with six plots of varying severity within each fire perimeter at each site. BSC cover was most strongly negatively impacted by wildfire at sites that had well-developed BSC communities in adjacent unburned plots. BSC species richness was estimated to be 65 % greater in unburned plots compared with burned plots, and fire effects did not vary among sites. In contrast, there was no evidence that vascular plant functional groups or fire severity (as measured by satellite metrics differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) or relativized differenced normalized burn ratio (RdNBR)) significantly affected longer-term BSC responses. Three large-statured BSC functional groups that may be important in controlling wind and water erosion (squamulose lichens, vagrant lichens, and tall turf mosses) exhibited a significant decrease in abundance in burned areas relative to adjacent unburned areas. The decreases in BSC cover and richness along with decreased abundance of several functional groups suggest that wildfire can negatively impact ecosystem function in these semiarid ecosystems for at least 1 to 2 decades. This is a concern given that increased fire frequency is predicted for the region due to exotic grass invasion and climate change.

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“…Whereas biocrusts represent an important component of the landscape in arid and semi-arid environments and are a natural and most effective force in land stabilization and recovery (Campbell, 1979;Belnap et al, 2003;Weber et al, 2016), no 10 universal method has been established, yet, to determine the chlorophyll content of the photosynthesizers within these microbial communities. In the present study, we evaluated the usefulness of different preparatory steps and methods proposed in recent studies to then determine a chlorophyll extraction technique most suitable for biocrust samples.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The chlorophyll content of these communities is therefore a good indicator for the photosynthetic capacity and thus the capability of these systems to acquire energy, jointly used by the community but also exchanged with the 15 surrounding environment. The capability to acquire energy under favorable environmental conditions is in turn a relevant proxy indicating successional stage, system stability, and its ability to recover from disturbance (Dojani et al, 2011;Gomez et al, 2012;Weber et al, 2016). As cyanobacteria and cyanolichens (photobiont: cyanobacteria) only comprise Chl a , high Chl a /Chl b ratios may indicate their dominance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting chlorophyll extraction methods in biological soil crusts – methodology for determination of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll a + b as compared to previous methods

Caesar¹,

Tamm²,

Ruckteschler³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. Chlorophyll concentrations of biological soil crust (biocrust) samples are commonly determined to quantify the 10 relevance of photosynthetically active organisms within these surface soil communities. Whereas chlorophyll extraction methods for freshwater algae and leaf tissues of vascular plants are well established, there is still some uncertainty regarding the optimal extraction method for biocrusts, where organism composition is highly variable and samples comprise major amounts of soil. In this study we analyzed the efficiency of two different chlorophyll extraction solvents, the effect of grinding the soil samples prior to the extraction procedure and the impact of shaking as an intermediate step during 15 extraction. The analyses were conducted on four different types of biocrusts. Our results show, that for all biocrust types chlorophyll contents obtained with ethanol were significantly lower than those obtained with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as solvent. Grinding of biocrust samples prior to analysis caused a highly significant decrease in chlorophyll content for green algal lichen-and cyanolichen-dominated biocrusts, and a tendency towards lower values for moss-and algae-dominated biocrusts. Shaking of the samples after each extraction step had a significant positive effect on the chlorophyll content of 20 green algal lichen-and cyanolichen-dominated biocrusts. Based on our results we confirm a DMSO-based chlorophyll extraction method without grinding pretreatment and suggest to insert an intermediate shaking step for complete chlorophyll extraction (see supplement S6 for detailed manual). Determination of a universal chlorophyll extraction method for biocrusts is essential for the inter-comparability of studies conducted across all continents.

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Natural Recovery of Biological Soil Crusts After Disturbance

Cited by 87 publications

References 66 publications

Hydration status and diurnal trophic interactions shape microbial community function in desert biocrusts

Hydration status and diurnal trophic interactions shape microbial community function in desert biocrusts

Recovery of biological soil crust richness and cover 12–16 years after wildfires in Idaho, USA

Revisiting chlorophyll extraction methods in biological soil crusts – methodology for determination of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll a + b as compared to previous methods

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