TY - JOUR
T1 - Ecology and functional roles of biological soil crusts in semi-arid ecosystems of Spain
AU - Maestre, F. T.
AU - Bowker, M. A.
AU - Cantón, Y.
AU - Castillo-Monroy, A. P.
AU - Cortina, J.
AU - Escolar, C.
AU - Escudero, A.
AU - Lázaro, R.
AU - Martínez, I.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Cristina Armas and three anonymous reviewers for comments on a previous version of this manuscript. This review was made possible thanks to the support of the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement n° 242658 awarded to FTM. AE acknowledges support from the Remedinal2 project, funded by Comunidad de Madrid. RL and YC acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) and the European Regional Development Fund (Project PREVEA; CGL2007-63258/BOS), and from the Junta de Andalucía (Project COSTRAS; RNM- 3614). JC appreciates support from MICINN (Program Consolider-Ingenio 2010; Project GRACCIE; CSD2007-00067) and Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino (project RECUVES; 077/RN08/04.1). We would like to thank the Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDRA) and the Viciana brothers for allowing us to work in land of their property at Aranjuez (Madrid) and Tabernas (Almería), respectively.
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - Biological soil crusts (BSCs), composed of lichens, cyanobacteria, mosses, liverworts and microorganisms, are key biotic components of arid and semi-arid ecosystems worldwide. Despite they are widespread in Spain, these organisms have been historically understudied in this country. This trend is beginning to change as a recent wave of research has been identifying BSCs as a model ecological system. Many studies and research projects carried out in Spain have explored the role of BSCs on water, carbon and nitrogen fluxes, the interactions between BSCs and vascular plants, their dynamics after disturbances, and their response to global change, among other topics. In this article we review the growing body of research on BSCs available from semi-arid areas of Spain, highlighting its importance for increasing our knowledge on this group of organisms. We also discuss how it is breaking new ground in emerging research areas on the ecology of BSCs, and how it can be use to guide management and restoration efforts. Finally, we provide directions for future research on the ecology of BSCs in Spain and abroad.
AB - Biological soil crusts (BSCs), composed of lichens, cyanobacteria, mosses, liverworts and microorganisms, are key biotic components of arid and semi-arid ecosystems worldwide. Despite they are widespread in Spain, these organisms have been historically understudied in this country. This trend is beginning to change as a recent wave of research has been identifying BSCs as a model ecological system. Many studies and research projects carried out in Spain have explored the role of BSCs on water, carbon and nitrogen fluxes, the interactions between BSCs and vascular plants, their dynamics after disturbances, and their response to global change, among other topics. In this article we review the growing body of research on BSCs available from semi-arid areas of Spain, highlighting its importance for increasing our knowledge on this group of organisms. We also discuss how it is breaking new ground in emerging research areas on the ecology of BSCs, and how it can be use to guide management and restoration efforts. Finally, we provide directions for future research on the ecology of BSCs in Spain and abroad.
KW - Biotic interactions
KW - Hydrological processes
KW - Mediterranean
KW - Nutrient cycling
KW - Restoration
KW - Semi-arid
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2010.12.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2010.12.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80053125303
SN - 0140-1963
VL - 75
SP - 1282
EP - 1291
JO - Journal of Arid Environments
JF - Journal of Arid Environments
IS - 12
ER -