Spectral Characteristics of Cyanobacteria Soil Crust in Semiarid Environments

The CO<sub>2</sub> exchange of biological soil crusts in a semiarid grass-shrubland at the northern transition zone of the Negev desert, Israel

“…allows perpetual cycles of desiccation and hydration of cells without damage to biological functions , BSC successfully complement the sparse cover of vascular vegetation in many dryland ecosystems. Remote sensing studies confirmed the large contribution of photosynthetically active BSC surfaces in semiarid areas (Karnieli and Tsoar, 1995;Karnieli et al, 1996Karnieli et al, , 1999. Recently, remote sensing studies were also successful in following the phenological cycle of BSC as well as probing differences in the seasonal changes of their CO 2 assimilation (Burgheimer et al, 2006a, b).…”

Biological soil crusts cause subcritical water repellency in a sand dune ecosystem located along a rainfall gradient in the NW Negev desert, Israel

“…Despite the close proximity and the uniform quarzitic sandy substratum in the region, crusts differ in their species composition, chemical and physical properties (Drahorad et al, 2013a;Drahorad and Felix-Henningsen, 2013;Kidron et al, 2010;Veste et al, 2001;Yair et al, 2011). The dune slopes and the interdune in NS are colonized by a cyanobacteria dominated BSC with the filamentous genera Microcoleus, Leptolyngbya and Trichocoleus as the most abundant (Hagemann et al, 2014;Karnieli et al, 1999). These BSCs are smooth, lightly gray colored, thin and fragile (1-2 mm thick) and correspond to the crust type A as classified by Kidron et al (2010).…”

Remote sensing and spatial analysis of aeolian sand dunes: A review and outlook

“…In situ measurements of the spectral characteristics of biological soil crusts have found that, in cases, crusts have a unique spectral signature (for desert dunes in Israel: Karnieli and Sarafis, 1996;Karnieli, 1997;Karnieli et al, 1999; for coastal dunes in Israel: Levin et al, 2007; for semi-arid regions in Australia: O'Neill, 1994). However, the spectral signature of biological soil crusts can be influenced by wetting (O'Neill, 1994), the relative abundance and types of cyanobacteria, and absorption of iron oxide and clay minerals.…”