Desert Floor Biological Crust

In many places soil crust comprises over 70 percent of all living ground cover.

Desert floor biological crust. The knobby black crust here includes lichen mosses green algae microfungi and bacteria but is dominated by cyanobacteria. They are found throughout the world with varying species composition and cover depending on topography soil characteristics climate plant community microhabitats and disturbance regimes biological soil crusts perform important ecological roles including carbon fixation. Nevertheless collectively they do nothing less than hold together the desert floor. Biological soil crusts at tonto national monument.

Gillettevulnerability of desert biological soil crusts to wind erosion. Biological soil crusts form a living groundcover that is the foundation of desert plant life. Biological soil crusts are communities of living organisms on the soil surface in arid and semi arid ecosystems. Each of the crust s individual organisms holds little biological significance on its own.

Mojave desert plants biological soil crusts webs of life in the desert what and where are biological soil crusts. Cryptobiotic crust is best known and probably most studied from the protected lands of the national parks of the colorado plateau where it forms dark lumpy patches on the red soil. The paper is titled dynamic cyanobacterial response to hydration and dehydration in a desert biological soil crust arid and semi arid deserts make up about 40 percent of earth s total land mass. 10 6 and protect desert surfaces from erosional shear stresses imposed by overland flow and strong winds allen 2005 2010.

But it is equally important to desert prairie and tundra ecosystems and also colonizes bare ground in humid temperate environments. They often cover most of desert soil surfaces and substantially mediate inputs and outputs from desert soils belnap et al. Biological soil crust is found throughout the world from the colorado plateau s high desert to the arctic. Typically composed of cyanobacteria fungi lichens and algae they cover a wide variety of undisturbed sonoran desert soils fig.

But if you stop and look at the ground for a few minutes you may find a diverse community of tiny organisms all working together. They also perform vital ecosystem functions. Since then researchers have investigated many different aspects of these communities and have shown that although small to microscopic biological soil crusts are critical in many ecological processes of deserts. Although the soil surface may look like dirt to you it is full of living organisms that are a vital part of desert ecosystems this veneer of life is called a biological soil crust.