Biological soil crusts are communities of living organisms on the soil surface in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. They are found throughout the world with...

formation, soil crusts can be biological or physical. Biological soil crusts are formed by communities of microorganisms that live on the soil surface whereas...

desert fungi are a variety of terricolous fungi inhabiting the biological soil crust of arid regions. Those exposed to the sun typically contain melanin...

walls, gravestones, roofs, exposed soil surfaces, rubber, bones, and in the soil as part of biological soil crusts. Various lichens have adapted to survive...

downy brome. Research has shown that ecosystems with a healthy biological soil crust and native plant community will be resistant to B. tectorum invasion...

pine, evening primrose, sand verbena, yucca, and sacred datura. Biological soil crust consisting of cyanobacteria, lichen, mosses, green algae, and microfungi...

ecosystems, for example in biological soil crusts, soil formation, supporting highly diverse microbial populations in soil and water, and coral reef growth...

carbon. Even in deserts, cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses form biological soil crusts which capture and sequester a significant amount of carbon by photosynthesis...

countries as "sabkha". Daryalyktakyr Jayne Belnap, Otto Ludwig Lange. "Biological Soil Crusts: Structure, Function, and Management". Springer, 2001, ISBN 3-540-43757-6...

on water and air movement, biological activity, root growth and seedling emergence. There are several different types of soil structure. It is inherently...