Abstract
Desertification is a global problem, costly to national economies and human societies. Restoration of biological soil crusts (BSCs) may have an important role to play in the reversal of desertification due to their ability to decrease erosion and enhance soil fertility. To determine if there is evidence that lower fertility may hinder BSC recolonization, we investigated the hypothesis that BSC abundance is driven by soil nutrient concentrations. At a regional scale (north and central Colorado Plateau, USA), moss and lichen cover and richness are correlated with a complex water-nutrient availability gradient and have approximately six-fold higher cover and approximately two-fold higher species richness on sandy soils than on shale-derived soils. At a microscale, mosses and lichens are overrepresented in microhabitats under the north sides of shrub canopies, where water and nutrients are more available. At two spatial scales, and at the individual species and community levels, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that distributions of BSC organisms are determined largely by soil fertility. The micronutrients Mn and Zn figured prominently and consistently in the various analyses, strongly suggesting that these elements are previously unstudied limiting factors in BSC development. Structural-equation modeling of our data is most consistent with the hypothesis of causal relationships between the availability of micronutrients and the abundance of the two major nitrogen (N) fixers of BSCs. Specifically, higher Mn availability may determine greater Collema tenax abundance, and both Mn and Zn may limit Collema coccophorum; alternative causal hypotheses were less consistent with the data. We propose experimental trials of micronutrient addition to promote the restoration of BSC function on disturbed lands. Arid lands, where BSCs are most prevalent, cover ∼40% of the terrestrial surface of the earth; thus the information gathered in this study is potentially useful in many places worldwide.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1941-1951 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Ecological Applications |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2005 |
Keywords
- Collema
- Cryptobiotic soils
- Desertification
- Lichens
- Manganese
- Micronutrient limitation
- Mosses
- Restoration
- Semi-arid desert
- Soil crusts and arid-land restoration
- Soil nutrients
- Zinc
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology
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Dive into the research topics of 'Evidence for micronutrient limitation of biological soil crusts: Importance to arid-lands restoration'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Datasets
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EVIDENCE FOR MICRONUTRIENT LIMITATION OF BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS: IMPORTANCE TO ARID-LANDS RESTORATION
Bowker, M. A. (Creator), Belnap, J. (Creator), Davidson, D. W. (Creator) & Phillips, S. L. (Creator), figshare, 2016
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3293333, https://figshare.com/collections/EVIDENCE_FOR_MICRONUTRIENT_LIMITATION_OF_BIOLOGICAL_SOIL_CRUSTS_IMPORTANCE_TO_ARID-LANDS_RESTORATION/3293333
Dataset
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Appendix C. Detailed results of regional and microscale community analyses by species.
Bowker, M. A. (Creator), Belnap, J. (Creator), Davidson, D. W. (Creator) & Phillips, S. L. (Creator), figshare Academic Research System, 2016
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.3512126.v1, https://wiley.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Appendix_C_Detailed_results_of_regional_and_microscale_community_analyses_by_species_/3512126/1
Dataset
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Appendix B. Detailed results of regional and microscale community analyses by environmental variable.
Bowker, M. A. (Creator), Belnap, J. (Creator), Davidson, D. W. (Creator) & Phillips, S. L. (Creator), figshare, 2016
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.3512129, https://wiley.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Appendix_B_Detailed_results_of_regional_and_microscale_community_analyses_by_environmental_variable_/3512129
Dataset