Explains biological soil crusts, organism-produced soil formations commonly found in semiarid and arid environments, with special reference to their biological composition, physical characteristics, and ecological significance.
Fact sheet on the need to protect biological soil crusts in the desert. These crusts are most of the soil surface in deserts not covered by green plants and are inhabited by cyanobacterium (blue-green algae) and other organisms useful to the ecosystem.
Locations for nine species of large constrictors, from published sources, along with monthly precipitation and average monthly temperature for those locations. Shapefiles for each snake species studied.
The USGS Core Science Metadata Clearinghouse contains metadata records describing datasets largely focused on wildlife biology, ecology, environmental science, temperature, land cover, and land stewardship.
Studying 28 species of warblers, flycatchers, tanagers, and vireos, we find the birds relied on the flowering of honey mesquite to detect the availability of insects they eat.
Acidified soils caused toxic aluminum in 66 percent of 565 assessed streams. Diatoms and aquatic macroinvertebrates were moderately to severely affected. These effects have not improved in areas surveyed in the early 1980s