The Desert’s Fragile Skin Can’t Take Much More Heat
Climate change and human activity are destroying the layers of fungi, lichen, and bacteria that protect deserts from erosion.
The Desert’s Fragile Skin Can’t Take Much More Heat Read MoreTag: Cryptobiotic Soil (Biocrust)
Cryptobiotic Soil crusts, consisting of soil cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses, play an important ecological roles in the arid Southwest. In the cold deserts of the Colorado Plateau region (parts of Utah, Arizona Colorado, and New Mexico), these crusts are extraordinarily well-developed, often representing over 70 percent of the living ground cover. Cryptobiotic crusts increase the stability of otherwise easily eroded soils, increase water infiltration in regions that receive little precipitation, and increase fertility in soils often limited in essential nutrients such as nitrogen and carbon.
—U.S. Geological Survey, “Cryptobiotic Soils: Holding the Place in Place”
Cryptobiotic Soil crusts are an important part of arid and semi-arid ecosystems throughout the world, including those in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Crypto means hidden, while biota means life. Hence these crusts are composed primarily of very small organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Well-developed cryptobiotic soil crust is often much darker than the soil it is on top of, and has a sponge-like look and texture. The extent of crust development depends on soil structure, texture, and chemistry as well as elevation and microclimate.
—National Park Service, “Cryptobiotic Soil Crusts”
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 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, nitrogen fixation and soil stabilization; they alter soil albedo and water relations and affect germination and nutrient levels in vascular plants. They can be damaged by fire, recreational activity, grazing and other disturbances and can require long time periods to recover composition and function. Biological soil crusts are also known as biocrusts or as cryptogamic, microbiotic, microphytic, or cryptobiotic soils.
—Wikipedia, “Biological soil crust“