Tissue chemistry of biocrust species along an aridity gradient and comparison to vascular plant leaves

Mallen‐Cooper, Max; Cornwell, William K.

doi:10.1111/1365-2435.13903

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…Rainfall in summer will typically evaporate more rapidly than in cooler seasons, allowing lichens and mosses less time to accrete carbon and offset the costs of desiccation. Carbon balance is thought to be a key driver of lichen and moss range limits in drylands (Mallen‐Cooper & Cornwell, 2021) and there is strong experimental evidence that shorter periods of summer rainfall lead to mortality in mosses as carbon balances become negative (Coe et al, 2012; Reed et al, 2012). As such, greater dryland area in the future does not necessarily correspond to more climatically suitable area for dryland‐adapted lichens and mosses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an understanding of future range shifts in lichens and mosses under climate change

Mallen‐Cooper

Rodríguez‐Caballero

Eldridge

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim: Lichens and mosses play important functional roles in all terrestrial ecosystems, particularly in tundra and drylands. As with all taxa, to maintain their current niche in a changing climate, lichens and mosses will have to migrate. However, there are no published estimates of future habitat suitability or necessary rates of migration for members of these groups at the global scale.Taxon: Lichens and mosses. Location: Global.Methods: Using global occurrence data, we conducted ensemble distribution models in the 'biomod2' R package, parameterised with a range of climatic, land use and soil variables, to estimate current and future (2100) habitat suitability in 16 abundant species of lichen and moss.Results: Without considering dispersal limitation, suitable area was forecast to expand for eight species and decline for four species. For species with predominantly boreoarctic distributions, suitable area typically declined at the temperate range edge and expanded across the High Arctic. Future suitable area available to dryland-adapted species generally declined overall, likely relating to the desiccation-tolerant physiology of lichens and mosses. The average migration rates required for species to disperse into new suitable habitat ranged from 1.7 (Placidium squamulosum) to 9.0 km year −1 (Syntrichia ruralis), although most species will need to migrate >16 km year −1 to completely fill their potential future suitable habitat.Main Conclusions: For mosses and lichens, as with all species, migration will be an important part of the adjustment to a warmer climate, but realisation of these potential migrations will require both rare dispersal events and habitat that is suitable in non-climatic dimensions. Current evidence on dispersal in these groups suggests that these geographical shifts may be unlikely to be realised without intervention, especially in landscapes that are highly modified by humans.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an understanding of future range shifts in lichens and mosses under climate change

Mallen‐Cooper

Rodríguez‐Caballero

Eldridge

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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“…The ratios of C, N, and P might indicate nutrient limitation in cryptogam species growth in biocrusts (Y. Li et al, 2019b). Biocrusts can become C limited due to declining biocrust C:N ratios, often caused by declining C content in drylands soil (Mallen‐Cooper & Cornwell, 2021). In contrast, Xu et al (2021) found that C:N ratios of biocrust systems may indicate N limitation, because N fixed by cyanobacteria could accumulate at higher rates than C, reducing C:N ratios.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Soil C:N and C:P ratios positively influence colonization and development of incubated biocrusts in a sandy desert environment

Zhao,

et al. 2023

Land Degrad Dev

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Over the past few years, incubated biocrusts (IBSC)—the inoculation of soil/sand with cyanobacteria, moss, and lichen—have become one of the most promising biotechnological strategies for preventing soil erosion and restoring soil function in degraded drylands. Soil nutrient content (C, N, and P) is one of the key factors that influences IBSC colonization and development; however, the effects of soil C:N, C:P, and N:P stoichiometric ratios on the colonization and development of IBSC in desert environments are little known. We used four soil substrates, collected from four areas on the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert, China, to incubate biocrusts. The four substrates differed in particle size and nutrient content. We flattened the dunes so their sand surfaces were level before covering them with soil substrates. We used a fully factorial design with four soil substrates and with and without biocrust additions, generating a total of 12 different treatments. The soil substrates differed in C, N, and P content and C:N, C:P, and N:P stoichiometric ratios. We measured IBSC coverage and thickness to establish relationships between IBSC characteristics and soil C:N, C:P, and N:P stoichiometric ratios. After 12 months of development, all treatments had significantly more cyanobacteria coverage, lichen coverage, and total coverage of IBSC than did control plots, which had little or no IBSC development. C:N and C:P ratios were significantly positively related to cyanobacteria coverage and total coverage of IBSC. Soil C:N and C:P ratios were mainly controlled by soil C; C limitation was greater than N and P limitation. Our study indicates that increasing initial soil substrate C content to improve C:N and C:P ratios will help the recovery of biocrusts and IBSC colonization. We demonstrate that stoichiometric ratios of soil should be a concern when assessing IBSC restoration treatments and when using IBSC to restore degraded land, especially at large scales.

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“…These factors could explain the better response of plants in soils amended with sewage sludge compost than with organic solid waste compost. However, biocrusts differ from plants in that they are principal players in increasing major soil P and N pools, and their growth is more likely limited by C due to restrictions to photosynthesis (Mallen‐Cooper & Cornwell 2021). Indeed, we observed positive effects of biocrust increasing P and ammonium concentration in the experimental units, in accordance with their role in soil fertility (Belnap 2011; Elbert et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compost promotes biocrust and plant growth in greenhouse cocultures for dryland restoration

Garibotti,

Gonzalez Polo,

Satti

2023

Restoration Ecology

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Biocrusts and plants are the main ground cover and provide multiple ecosystem functions in arid and semiarid areas. As land degradation worsens and waste management is ever more pressing, the use of composted waste appears as a sustainable restoration practice to enhance vegetation reestablishment, but its effects on biocrusts still remain largely understudied. Moreover, developing appropriate methods for the co‐introduction of plants and biocrusts can be an emerging approach to reconstruct the biocrust/plant interaction and their associated functions. We evaluated the effect of different compost types on biocrust and plant cocultivations. We performed a greenhouse mesocosm experiment using urban organic solid waste and sewage sludge composts to grow a moss‐dominated biocrust and seedlings of two pioneer shrubs (Senecio filaginoides and Acaena splendens) in the Patagonian steppe. Both compost types successfully enhanced biocrust cover and chlorophyll a development, with cultured biocrusts being compositionally similar to the natural inoculum. Only the addition of composted sewage sludge enhanced seedling growth, and biocrusts had significant but opposite effects (positive/negative) on the two plant species we used for experimentation. This difference in the biocrust/plant interaction outcome was likely mediated by the significant influence of biocrusts on the relative availability of ammonium and nitrate and possible plant species‐specific preferences for different inorganic nitrogen forms. We conclude that the application of sewage sludge compost effectively improves the success of biocrust and plant cocultures, but species‐specific differences in the performance of seedlings growing in biocrusted soils impose limits on attempts to promote biocrust and plant joint restoration.

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Tissue chemistry of biocrust species along an aridity gradient and comparison to vascular plant leaves

Cited by 6 publications

References 91 publications

Towards an understanding of future range shifts in lichens and mosses under climate change

Towards an understanding of future range shifts in lichens and mosses under climate change

Soil C:N and C:P ratios positively influence colonization and development of incubated biocrusts in a sandy desert environment

Compost promotes biocrust and plant growth in greenhouse cocultures for dryland restoration

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