Responses of biological soil crusts to rehabilitation strategies

Chock, Taylor; Antoninka, Anita; Faist, Akasha M.; Bowker, Matthew A.; Belnap, Jayne; Barger, Nichole N.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2018.10.007

Cited by 46 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…supported by a variety of work in the literature (e.g., Fick et al this issue, Chiquoine et al 2016, Chock et al 2018), but we offer new insights into how we might reliably improve inoculation success as well as stabilize the soil surface to prevent erosion. Below we highlight the most important results and implications for practice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…Both are saline and alkaline and classified as aridisols. Additional soil chemical and physical properties at these sites are reported in Chock et al (2018), which used the same plots. We established the experiment to coincide with moisture conditions presumably favorable to biocrust growth in April of 2013.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A variety of resource augmenting and physiological stress-reducing habitat ameliorations have been implemented with or without biocrust addition, with various outcomes (Maestre et al 2006, Chock et al 2018. Drylands, by definition, are water-limited, thus irrigation, at least at the time of inoculation is one possible amelioration (Chandler et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While these microsite characteristics have been shown to enhance biocrust natural establishment (e.g. Bowker et al 2004), they have only recently been explicitly tested in aided recovery experiments (Chock et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Addressing barriers to improve biocrust colonization and establishment in dryland restoration

Antoninka

Bowker

Barger

et al. 2019

Restoration Ecology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Addressing barriers to improve biocrust colonization and establishment in dryland restoration

Antoninka

Bowker

Barger

et al. 2019

Restoration Ecology

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“…and Leptolyngbya spp. These genera have a high ability to stabilize the substrate by the concerted action of the trichomes and the copious amount of EPSs that they produce (Chamizo et al 2018;Mugnai et al 2018b;Chock et al 2019). In addition, EPSs protect cells from several types of stresses, notably drought and cryoturbation (Tamaru et al 2005;Varin et al 2012), binding water molecules and affecting water permanence at the topsoil (Colica et al 2014).…”

Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Arctic biocrusts: characterization of the exopolysaccharidic matrix

et al. 2020

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Biocrusts can be found in a wide array of habitats, where they provide important ecosystem services. These microbial associations are particularly important in High Arctic environments, where biocrust colonize the newly exposed barren soil after glacier retreat and significantly contribute to soil stabilization and nutrient cycling. Starting from incipient, structurally simple biolayers, they develop in complexity, increasing from the glacier terminus. Starting from a simple community structure, mainly constituted by cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria and fungi immersed in a self-secreted extracellular polymeric matrix (cyanobacterial crusts), they later may recruit mosses and lichens (moss crusts and lichen crusts, respectively). The extracellular polymeric matrix protects the biocrust community from abiotic constraints, notably drought and freezing stress, from external physical harming factors, and from predation. The physicochemical characteristics of the extracellular matrix are related to several of its properties, such as its soil-stabilizing effect and water retention. We analysed the chemical (monosaccharidic composition) and macromolecular (molecular weight distribution) properties of the extracellular polymeric matrix of biocrusts with different morphologies collected in northwestern Spitsbergen, Norway. The uronic acid content and molecular weight (MW) distribution of the extracellular polysaccharidic matrices (EPMs) appeared in accordance with the developmental stages of the biocrusts. The MW distribution also showed significant differences between the samples, possibly reflecting differences in microbial enzymatic activities leading to the degradation of high-MW polymers into smaller compounds. The MW distribution profiles presented some important differences, reflecting differences in environmental conditions and, probably, the seasonal variance in microbial community composition that is known to characterize the environment examined in the present study.

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Restoration of biogeomorphic systems by creating windows of opportunity to support natural establishment processes

Fivash

Temmink

D’Angelo

et al. 2021

Ecological Applications

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In degraded landscapes, recolonization by pioneer vegetation is often halted by the presence of persistent environmental stress. When natural expansion does occur, it is commonly due to the momentary alleviation of a key environmental variable previously limiting new growth. Thus, studying the circumstances in which expansion occurs can inspire new restoration techniques, wherein vegetation establishment is provoked by emulating natural events through artificial means. Using the salt-marsh pioneer zone on tidal flats as a biogeomorphic model system, we explore how locally raised sediment bed forms, which are the result of natural (bio)geomorphic processes, enhance seedling establishment in an observational study. We then conduct a manipulative experiment designed to emulate these facilitative conditions in order to enable establishment on an uncolonized tidal flat. Here, we attempt to generate raised growth-promoting sediment bed forms using porous artificial structures. Flume experiments demonstrate how these structures produce a sheltered hydrodynamic environment in which suspended sediment and seeds preferentially settle. The application of these structures in the field led to the formation of stable, raised sediment platforms and the spontaneous recruitment of salt-marsh pioneers in the following growing season. These recruits were composed primarily of the annual pioneering Salicornia genus, with densities of up to 140 individuals/m 2 within the structures, a 60-fold increase over ambient densities. Lower abundances of five other perennial species were found within structures that did not appear elsewhere in the pioneer zone. Furthermore, recruits grew to be on average three times greater in mass inside of the structures than in the neighboring ambient environment. The success of this restoration design may be attributed to the combination of three factors: (1) enhanced seed retention, (2) suppressed mortality, and (3) accelerated growth rates on the elevated surfaces generated by the artificial structures. We argue that restoration approaches similar to the one shown here, wherein the conditions for natural establishment are actively mimicked to promote vegetation development, may serve as promising tools in many biogeomorphic ecosystems, ranging from coastal to arid ecosystems.

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Responses of biological soil crusts to rehabilitation strategies

Cited by 46 publications

References 34 publications

Addressing barriers to improve biocrust colonization and establishment in dryland restoration

Addressing barriers to improve biocrust colonization and establishment in dryland restoration

High Arctic biocrusts: characterization of the exopolysaccharidic matrix

Restoration of biogeomorphic systems by creating windows of opportunity to support natural establishment processes

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