Physical properties of the psammophile cryptogamic crust and their consequences to the water regime of sandy soils, north-western Negev Desert, Israel

Infiltration and water retention of biological soil crusts on reclaimed soils of former open-cast lignite mining sites in Brandenburg, north-east Germany

“…Kidron et al, 1999;Malam Issa et al, 2009). Run-off generation on soils with biological soil crusts was also caused by hydrophobic polymers and extracelluar secretions (Fischer et al, 2013), which reduced the size of pores formed by cyanobacteria (Mazor et al, 1996;Verrecchia et al, 1995) and induced run-off (Malam Issa et al, 2009). Especially green algae absorbed water and swelled after wetting, but an influence of exopolymers was not confirmed in this study, this factor of run-off generation could not be verified.…”

Structure and Reactivity of a Biological Soil Crust from a Xeric Sandy Soil in Central Europe

“…Biological soil crusts may also successfully compete with higher plants in these areas (Prasse and Bornkamm 2000). Structure, species composition and ecological significance have been described for soil crusts in the SW of the United States, the Negev Desert and Australia (Johansen 1993;Verrecchia et al 1995;Eldridge and Rosentreter 1999). Frequently, crust organisms are extremophilic or extremotolerant and show adaptations against the deleterious action of periodic wetting and drying (Potts, 1999).…”

A Field Guide to Biological Soil Crusts of Western U.S. DrylandsA Field Guide to Biological Soil Crusts of Western U.S. Drylands

“…These cyanobacterial components of biological soil crusts rapidly swell up to 13 times their dry volume (Shields and Durrell 1964;Campbell 1977), potentially closing flow pathways through the soil surface. Scanning electron microscopy shows sufficient openings in sandy loam soils for water flow (Belnap and Gardner 1993), but concentration of silt and clay particles in the crust, in combination with swelling, may restrict infiltration even in sandy soils when they are wet (Verrecchia et al 1995). Some authors speculate that the hydrophobic nature of some crustal components contributes to soil surface sealing (Bond 1964;Dulieu et al 1977;Walker 1979;Rutin 1983;Jungerius and van de Meulen 1988); however, others have shown crustal organisms at some sites are highly hydrophilic (Kidron et al 1999).…”

“…The crust's ability to seal the soil surface and reduce evaporation because of its associated high clay and silt concentrations has been repeatedly proposed (Danin 1978;Williams et al 1995a). While some studies show soil moisture is greater under well-developed crusts (Harper and Marble 1988;Meyer and GarciaMoya 1989;Verrecchia et al 1995;Belnap et al 1996), other studies have found decreased soil moisture under crusted surfaces (Harper and Marble 1988).…”