Taxonomic Composition and Photosynthetic Characteristics of the `Biological Soil Crusts' Covering Sand Dunes in the Western Negev Desert

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

“…Soil lichens have several different strategies to optimize carbon gain (Lange et al 1992(Lange et al , 1994(Lange et al , 1997. While photosynthesis is activated at low-water content for all species, each varies in response to higher water content.…”

The role of the mineral component in surface stabilization processes of a disturbed desert sandy surface

“…Due to differences in the microclimate, the crust and the woody vegetation are better developed on north-compared with south-facing slopes (Kidron and Yair, 1997). The crust is dominated by cyanobacteria and also contains green algae and mosses (Lange et al, 1992). The topsoil crust contains up to 40 per cent silt and clay, as compared to 3-7 per cent in the underlying unconsolidated sand (Yair, 1990).…”

Analysis of environmental factors determining development and succession in biological soil crusts

“…Early successional cyanobacterial crusts are light in color, with a small part of fine particles, low protective ability to water and wind erosion, poor nutrients and water retention (Housman et al, 2006;Lan et al, 2010a,b). With crust development and succession, dark-colored lichens or mosses later colonize the soil surface (Lange et al, 1992;Zaady et al, 2000;Lan et al, 2010a). Compared with cyanobacterial crusts, later successional lichen or moss crusts have the higher biological metabolic efficiency and protective ability; hence better topsoil microenvironments are expected in the later BSCs (Castenholz and Garcia-Pichel, 2000;Redfield et al, 2002;Housman et al, 2006).…”