Boosting biocrust establishment with pelletized inoculants

Introduction: Rangeland ecosystems, approximately 70% of the world's terrestrial land surface, face significant loss of ecosystem services primarily due to anthropogenic activity. Restoring function is essential for preventing further degradation. Biocrusts, a living groundcover present in rangelands, facilitate many ecosystem functions; thus, their reestablishment is an important step in ecosystem recovery. Objectives: We chose Syntrichia ruralis (Hedw.) F. Weber & D. Mohr, a common biocrust moss species across the northern hemisphere, to test a novel restoration method for moss application: pelletization. Pelletizing is a method already widely used in restoration with vascular plant seeds that increases weight and size to improve handling, consistency, and protection and to stabilize germination conditions. Methods: We set up a field trial with PVC collars at MPG Ranch in western Montana and tested: (1) whether pelletized biocrust would demonstrate higher establishment than nonpelletized biocrust, and (2) how pellet recipe, size, and shape would promote biocrust establishment, measuring ocular cover of moss and pellet breakdown over time. Results: We saw a trend over time that some pelletized treatments established more moss than the nonpelletized treatment. Recipes that included pectin performed better than those without pectin across all shapes and sizes. Conclusion: We identified promising pelletization methods to explore in further field trials, as well as test in larger field studies and with mechanized delivery methods.