Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are commonly found on the soil surface in arid and semi-arid ecosystems (collectively called drylands). Biocrusts can consist of mosses, cyanobacteria, lichens, algae, and microfungi, and they strongly interact with the soil. These organisms or consortium of disparate organisms, depending on the specific biocrust, are important to the functioning of ecosystems and to the organization of plant and soil communities.
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Fact Sheet: Biological Soil Crusts—Webs of Life in the Desert
Mapping and Monitoring Biological Soil Crusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
Interview with Dr. Sasha Reed on biocrusts and restoration
USGS b-roll video: "Mapping biocrust with UAS technology in Moab, Utah"
Biological Soil Crust Research in Western US Drylands
Biocrusts are consortia of bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi, lichens, and mosses that occupy the interface between soil and atmosphere in most drylands, providing critical ecosystem functions such as stabilizing soils and increasing fertility. Because drylands are our planet’s largest terrestrial biome, ecosystem health in drylands is globally important. Biocrust communities have been lost or degraded across the U.S. Southwest and Intermountain West due to land use practices such as grazing and energy development.
The loss of biocrusts drives reduced carbon uptake and soil fertility in the ecosystem, and decreased soil stability and water infiltration. A reduction in soil stability is especially troublesome, as destabilized soils can result in increases in dust production — a critical problem in the Southwest. These impacts magnify the effect of warming and drying on Colorado Plateau ecosystems in the absence of active adaptation measures to restore biocrusts in degraded areas. The biggest challenge is how to restore ecosystem function associated with biocrust in a way that will be successful now and, in the future.
Biocrust Restoration
Biological soil crust restoration aims to re-establish ecosystem function and build climate change resilience across ecologically disturbed drylands through cultivating and restoring biological soil crust (biocrust) communities. Biocrust organisms are essential for dryland ecosystems. They form the dominant land cover in many drylands and are crucial for increasing soil stability and reducing erosion in ecosystems that would otherwise rapidly lose their topsoil layer as wind-blown dust. They also increase soil fertility by increasing soil organic matter and nutrient content which are essential for plant growth and health. When we think about restoration in drylands we think of biocrusts first; they are essential for reclaiming a disturbed area to a functioning ecosystem.
The biocrust we propagate are salvaged from hotter deserts to the south and west, such that the organisms are adapted to hotter and drier conditions that are likely in a climate changing world. Because of their high visibility, and intersection with lands managed by a wide cross-section of public and private landholders, the restoration sites provide a strong platform for engagement and outreach regarding climate adaptive biocrust restoration. We monitor both the growth of biocrust and the associated ecosystem functions (soil stability, water infiltration, and soil fertility) over time to help evaluate project success. In addition, we measure soil stability and infiltration, as well as collect surface soil samples to measure the total carbon and nitrogen content, and plant available nitrogen content.
(Insert) - Image name: Harvesting biocrust from a future development site in Arches National Park. Photo by Colin Tucker.
All of our biological soil crust restoration inoculum currently comes from salvaged communities from sites that are destined for development. In this image above you can see field technicians harvest crust communities from an area in Arches National Park in Southeastern Utah, that is soon to be paved for a new parking lot. This allows us to culture these healthy communities, that would otherwise be destroyed, and then transplant them to our restoration sites.
(Insert) - Image name: Cyanobacteria holding soil aggregates together as biological soil crust (biocrust). Photo by Colin Tucker.
The goal of biocrust restoration is to increase the presence of these biocrust microbial communities in the soil to increase the stability, health, and fertility of desert soil ecosystems. As you can see from these photos, the earliest successional communities of cyanobacteria are fundamental for establishing a healthy biocrust community. They are the first soil colonizers and hold soil particles together with their filamentous biomass.
Mayberry Native Plant Propagation Center (Edit SUBHEADING)
(Insert) - Image name: Biocrust Farm at Mayberry Native Plant. Photo by Colin Tucker.
The world’s first-ever Biocrust Farm is located at the Mayberry Native Plant Propagation Center in Castle Valley, Utah. Here scientists and volunteers work together to grow biocrust communities until they are healthy and strong enough to be transplanted to restoration sites. In 2020, we started a new project at a reclaimed oil and gas well pad in Vernal, Utah.
BRIEFLY DISCUSS OTHER ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS... ADD TEXT
FUTURE DIRECTIONS... ADD MORE TEXT BELOW
In 2020 we will begin to develop a new method of biocrust restoration, using a liquid cyanobacterial slurry to disperse inoculum for biocrusts on a larger scale. We hope the development of this method can be used for reclaiming large disturbed sites that are too large to restore with dry inoculum, such as those affected by oil and gas development throughout the Southwest.
Remote Sensing of Biological Soil Crusts
Drylands are highly vulnerable to climate and land use changes: what ecosystem changes are in store?
Completing the dryland puzzle: creating a predictive framework for biological soil crust function and response to climate change
Biocrust cover, vegetation, and climate data from a protected grassland within Canyonlands National Park, Utah (ver. 2.0, Sept. 2023)
Data and software code from two long-term experiments (1996-2011 and 2005-2018) at three sites on the Colorado Plateau of North America
Soil surface properties and roughness data at two experimental restoration sites within the Southwestern USA
Erosion and Rehabilitation Data, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico, USA
Vegetation and Soils Data from Grazed and Ungrazed Watersheds in the Badger Wash Study Area, Colorado, USA
USGS Outstanding in the Field: Biocrusts (Ep. 9)
Welcome to another episode of Outstanding in the Field, the U.S. Geological Survey’s podcast series produced by the Ecosystems Mission Area. We highlight our fun and fascinating fieldwork studying ecosystems across the country. Today we’ll be discussing tiny communities that are found on the surface of the soil in the harsh environments of cold and hot deserts.
What is a biocrust? A refined, contemporary definition for a broadening research community
Global cycling and climate effects of aeolian dust controlled by biological soil crusts
Decline in biological soil crust N-fixing lichens linked to increasing summertime temperatures
Biocrusts mediate a new mechanism for land degradation under a changing climate
Mapping biological soil crusts in a Hawaiian dryland
Biocrusts do not differentially influence emergence and early establishment of native and non-native grasses
Vertical movement of soluble carbon and nutrients from biocrusts to subsurface mineral soils
Biocrust and the soil surface: Influence of climate, disturbance, and biocrust recovery on soil surface roughness
Plant growth and biocrust-fire interactions across five North American deserts
Broader impacts for ecologists: Biological soil crust as a model system for education
Modest residual effects of short-term warming, altered hydration, and biocrust successional state on dryland soil heterotrophic carbon and nitrogen cycling
Ultra‐high‐resolution mapping of biocrusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems
Below are partners associated with this project.
- Overview
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are commonly found on the soil surface in arid and semi-arid ecosystems (collectively called drylands). Biocrusts can consist of mosses, cyanobacteria, lichens, algae, and microfungi, and they strongly interact with the soil. These organisms or consortium of disparate organisms, depending on the specific biocrust, are important to the functioning of ecosystems and to the organization of plant and soil communities.
THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE & PLEASE CHECK BACK!
Fact Sheet: Biological Soil Crusts—Webs of Life in the DesertFact Sheet: Biological Soil Crusts—Webs of Life in the DesertMapping and Monitoring Biological Soil Crusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)Mapping and Monitoring Biological Soil Crusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)Interview with Dr. Sasha Reed on biocrusts and restorationInterview with Dr. Sasha Reed on biocrusts and restorationUSGS b-roll video: "Mapping biocrust with UAS technology in Moab, Utah"USGS b-roll video: "Mapping biocrust with UAS technology in Moab, Utah"Biological Soil Crust Research in Western US Drylands
Biocrusts are consortia of bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi, lichens, and mosses that occupy the interface between soil and atmosphere in most drylands, providing critical ecosystem functions such as stabilizing soils and increasing fertility. Because drylands are our planet’s largest terrestrial biome, ecosystem health in drylands is globally important. Biocrust communities have been lost or degraded across the U.S. Southwest and Intermountain West due to land use practices such as grazing and energy development.
The loss of biocrusts drives reduced carbon uptake and soil fertility in the ecosystem, and decreased soil stability and water infiltration. A reduction in soil stability is especially troublesome, as destabilized soils can result in increases in dust production — a critical problem in the Southwest. These impacts magnify the effect of warming and drying on Colorado Plateau ecosystems in the absence of active adaptation measures to restore biocrusts in degraded areas. The biggest challenge is how to restore ecosystem function associated with biocrust in a way that will be successful now and, in the future.
Biocrusts with moss species. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah, during surveys, 2017, courtesy of Erika Geiger. Biocrust Restoration
Biological soil crust restoration aims to re-establish ecosystem function and build climate change resilience across ecologically disturbed drylands through cultivating and restoring biological soil crust (biocrust) communities. Biocrust organisms are essential for dryland ecosystems. They form the dominant land cover in many drylands and are crucial for increasing soil stability and reducing erosion in ecosystems that would otherwise rapidly lose their topsoil layer as wind-blown dust. They also increase soil fertility by increasing soil organic matter and nutrient content which are essential for plant growth and health. When we think about restoration in drylands we think of biocrusts first; they are essential for reclaiming a disturbed area to a functioning ecosystem.
Biocrust survey, Colorado Plateau, Utah, with SBSC staff. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2018. The biocrust we propagate are salvaged from hotter deserts to the south and west, such that the organisms are adapted to hotter and drier conditions that are likely in a climate changing world. Because of their high visibility, and intersection with lands managed by a wide cross-section of public and private landholders, the restoration sites provide a strong platform for engagement and outreach regarding climate adaptive biocrust restoration. We monitor both the growth of biocrust and the associated ecosystem functions (soil stability, water infiltration, and soil fertility) over time to help evaluate project success. In addition, we measure soil stability and infiltration, as well as collect surface soil samples to measure the total carbon and nitrogen content, and plant available nitrogen content.
(Insert) - Image name: Harvesting biocrust from a future development site in Arches National Park. Photo by Colin Tucker.
All of our biological soil crust restoration inoculum currently comes from salvaged communities from sites that are destined for development. In this image above you can see field technicians harvest crust communities from an area in Arches National Park in Southeastern Utah, that is soon to be paved for a new parking lot. This allows us to culture these healthy communities, that would otherwise be destroyed, and then transplant them to our restoration sites.
(Insert) - Image name: Cyanobacteria holding soil aggregates together as biological soil crust (biocrust). Photo by Colin Tucker.
The goal of biocrust restoration is to increase the presence of these biocrust microbial communities in the soil to increase the stability, health, and fertility of desert soil ecosystems. As you can see from these photos, the earliest successional communities of cyanobacteria are fundamental for establishing a healthy biocrust community. They are the first soil colonizers and hold soil particles together with their filamentous biomass.
Mayberry Native Plant Propagation Center (Edit SUBHEADING)
(Insert) - Image name: Biocrust Farm at Mayberry Native Plant. Photo by Colin Tucker.
The world’s first-ever Biocrust Farm is located at the Mayberry Native Plant Propagation Center in Castle Valley, Utah. Here scientists and volunteers work together to grow biocrust communities until they are healthy and strong enough to be transplanted to restoration sites. In 2020, we started a new project at a reclaimed oil and gas well pad in Vernal, Utah.
Healthy dryland vegetation and biocrusts in Utah. The biocrusts are the darker-colored patches between the bunches of grasses and cacti. (Credit: Hilda Smith, USGS. Public domain.) BRIEFLY DISCUSS OTHER ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS... ADD TEXT
FUTURE DIRECTIONS... ADD MORE TEXT BELOW
In 2020 we will begin to develop a new method of biocrust restoration, using a liquid cyanobacterial slurry to disperse inoculum for biocrusts on a larger scale. We hope the development of this method can be used for reclaiming large disturbed sites that are too large to restore with dry inoculum, such as those affected by oil and gas development throughout the Southwest.
- Science
Remote Sensing of Biological Soil Crusts
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts, photoautotrophic soil surface communities comprised of cyanobacteria, algae, bryophytes, lichens, and fungi) occur in drylands globally where they contribute to ecosystem functioning by increasing soil stability, reducing dust emissions, and modifying soil resource availability (e.g., water, nutrients) (Fig 1.3.1). Despite increasing recognition and interest in...Drylands are highly vulnerable to climate and land use changes: what ecosystem changes are in store?
Improper land use during drought has been a major driver of land degradation in drylands globally, especially in the western U.S. Increasing aridity in western U.S. drylands under future climates will exacerbate risks associated with drought and land use decisions. This project provides critical observational, experimental, and modelling evidence to support our DOI partners with decision processes...Completing the dryland puzzle: creating a predictive framework for biological soil crust function and response to climate change
Drylands are integral to the Earth system and the present and future of human society. Drylands encompass more than 40% of the terrestrial landmass and support 34% of the world’s human population. Biocrusts are the “living skin” of Earth’s drylands, sometimes dominating the ground cover and figuring prominently in ecosystem structure and function. Biocrusts are a biological aggregate of cyanobact - Data
Biocrust cover, vegetation, and climate data from a protected grassland within Canyonlands National Park, Utah (ver. 2.0, Sept. 2023)
These tabular data were compiled for/to monitor vegetation and biocrust cover in a never grazed grassland located in Canyonlands National Park. An objective, or objectives, of our study was to document potential changes in biocrust and vegetation cover and species composition as related to changes in land use and climate change. These data represent a timeseries of long-term vegetation and biocrusData and software code from two long-term experiments (1996-2011 and 2005-2018) at three sites on the Colorado Plateau of North America
These data were compiled to examine how climate change affects biocrust recovery from both physical and climate-induced disturbance. Objective(s) of our study were to uncover the trajectory of biological soil crust communities and soil stability following distrubance and under warming. These data represent biological soil crust surveys under 5 treatments at three sites. These data were collected aSoil surface properties and roughness data at two experimental restoration sites within the Southwestern USA
This data release presents data used for analyzing spatial and temporal differences in soil surface roughness within selected biocrust communities. These records were collected by ground-based lidar for 121, 1m x 3m soil plots with biological soil crusts (biocrusts). Roughness was estimated from 5 mm resolution data (CloudCompare v. 2.10.2, 2019) for two Great Basin Desert sites (UTTR-1; UTTR-2) iErosion and Rehabilitation Data, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico, USA
These data were compiled for a restoration experiment testing the regenerative and functional response of biocrust inoculum reintroduced to a field setting. Regenerative traits measured included measurements of biocrust cover, chlorophyll content, and the roughness of the soil surface. Functional traits measured included nutrient cycling and soil stability. Additionally, these data were compiled fVegetation and Soils Data from Grazed and Ungrazed Watersheds in the Badger Wash Study Area, Colorado, USA
In 2004 U.S. Geological Survey biologists recorded vegetation and biological soil crust (BSC) cover by species as well as measured soil stability and compaction data along 85 transects at the Badger Wash study area in western Colorado. Soil samples were collected and processed for chemistry and texture. Using analysis of variance and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) we assessed the cover - Multimedia
USGS Outstanding in the Field: Biocrusts (Ep. 9)
Welcome to another episode of Outstanding in the Field, the U.S. Geological Survey’s podcast series produced by the Ecosystems Mission Area. We highlight our fun and fascinating fieldwork studying ecosystems across the country. Today we’ll be discussing tiny communities that are found on the surface of the soil in the harsh environments of cold and hot deserts.
Filter Total Items: 37 - Publications
Filter Total Items: 51
What is a biocrust? A refined, contemporary definition for a broadening research community
Studies of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) have proliferated over the last few decades. The biocrust literature has broadened, with more studies assessing and describing the function of a variety of biocrust communities in a broad range of biomes and habitats and across a large spectrum of disciplines, and also by the incorporation of biocrusts into global perspectives and biogeochemical modelsAuthorsBettina Weber, Jayne Belnap, Burkhard Büdel, Anita J. Antoninka, Nichole N. Barger, V Bala Chaudhary, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, David J. Eldridge, Akasha M. Faist, Scott Ferrenberg, Caroline Havrilla, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Oumarou Malam Issa, Fernando T. Maestre, Sasha C. Reed, Emilio Rodriguez-Caballero, Colin L Tucker, Kristina E Young, Yuanming Zhang, Yunge Zhao, Xiaobing Zhou, Matthew A. BowkerGlobal cycling and climate effects of aeolian dust controlled by biological soil crusts
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) cover ~12% of the global land surface. They are formed by an intimate association between soil particles, photoautotrophic and heterotrophic organisms, and they effectively stabilize the soil surface of drylands. Quantitative information on the impact of biocrusts on the global cycling and climate effects of aeolian dust, however, is not available. Here, we combiAuthorsRodriguez-Caballero, T Stanelle, S Egerer, Yang Cheng, H. E. Suess, Y Canton, Jayne Belnap, M O Andreae, I Tegen, C Reick, Ulrich Pöschl, B. WeberDecline in biological soil crust N-fixing lichens linked to increasing summertime temperatures
Across many global drylands, biocrusts form a protective barrier on the soil surface and fill many critical roles in these harsh yet fragile environments. Previous short-term research suggests that climate change and invasive plant introduction can damage and alter biocrust communities, yet few long-term observations exist. Using a globally unique long-term record of continuous biocrust surveys frAuthorsRebecca A Finger-Higgens, Michael C. Duniway, Stephen E. Fick, Erika L. Geiger, David L. Hoover, Alix A. Pfennigwerth, Matthew W. Van Scoyoc, Jayne BelnapBiocrusts mediate a new mechanism for land degradation under a changing climate
Global concerns for desertification have focused on the slow recovery of extensive and expanding drylands following disturbance, which may be exacerbated by climate change. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are photosynthetic soil communities found in drylands worldwide, which are central to the stability and resilience of dryland ecosystems, but vulnerable to global change. Here we use multipleAuthorsMichala Lee Phillips, Brandon E McNellis, Armin J. Howell, Cara Marie Lauria, Jayne Belnap, Sasha C. ReedMapping biological soil crusts in a Hawaiian dryland
Historical and ongoing land use patterns in the Hawaiian Islands have degraded the Islands’ drylands, causing erosion and detrimentally affecting adjacent coastal marine ecosystems. Biological soil crust (biocrust) communities have been shown to increase soil stability in drylands worldwide, but their efficacy in mitigating soil erosion in Hawaiian drylands is largely unknown. Using a combinationAuthorsEszter Collier, Ryan L. Perroy, Sasha C. Reed, Jon P PriceBiocrusts do not differentially influence emergence and early establishment of native and non-native grasses
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) cover the soil surface of global drylands and interact with vascular plants. Biocrusts may influence the availability and nature of safe sites for plant recruitment and the susceptibility of an area to invasion by non-native species. Therefore, to investigate the potential role of biocrusts in invasive species management, we sought to determine whether native andAuthorsCheryl McIntyre, Steven R. Archer, Katie Predick, Jayne BelnapVertical movement of soluble carbon and nutrients from biocrusts to subsurface mineral soils
Dryland ecosystems can be constrained by low soil fertility. Within drylands, the soil nutrient and organic carbon (C) cycling that does occur is often mediated by soil surface communities known as biological soil crusts (biocrusts), which cycle C and nutrients in the top ca. 0–2 cm of soil. However, the degree to which biocrusts are influencing soil fertility and biogeochemical cycling in deeper,AuthorsKristina E. Young, Scott Ferrenberg, Robin H. Reibold, Sasha C. Reed, Tami Swenson, Trent Northen, Anthony Darrouzet-NardiBiocrust and the soil surface: Influence of climate, disturbance, and biocrust recovery on soil surface roughness
Biocrust communities promote soil surface roughness, a key functional characteristic for soil ecology. However, the spatial scales at which biocrust communities contribute to surface roughness are not well understood. To refine our understanding of the spatial dynamics between biocrust and soil surface roughness, we used mm-resolution terrestrial LiDAR to measure micro-topographic roughness at sevAuthorsJoshua Caster, Temuulen T. Sankey, Joel B. Sankey, Matthew A. Bowker, Daniel Buscombe, Michael C. Duniway, Nichole Barger, Akasha M. Faist, Taylor JoyalPlant growth and biocrust-fire interactions across five North American deserts
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are communities predominately comprised of lichens, bryophytes, fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria that form at the soil surface in dryland ecosystems worldwide. Biocrusts can influence the vascular plant community by altering surface hydrology, nutrient cycling, and the availability of microsites suitable for germination. Fire frequency has increased in many drylanAuthorsEllie McCann, Sasha C. Reed, Pradip Saud, Robin H. Reibold, Armin J. Howell, Akasha M. FaistBroader impacts for ecologists: Biological soil crust as a model system for education
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a complex community of algae, cyanobacteria, lichens, bryophytes, and assorted bacteria, fungi, archaea, and bacteriophages that colonize the soil surface. Biocrusts are particularly common in drylands and are found in arid and semiarid ecosystems worldwide. While diminutive in size, biocrusts often cover large terrestrial areas, provide numerous ecosystem beAuthorsAlasha M. Faist, Anita J. Antoninka, Nichole N. Barger, Matthew A. Bowker, V. Bala Chaudhary, Caroline A. Havrilla, Elisabeth Huber-Saanwald, Sasha C. Reed, Bettina WeberModest residual effects of short-term warming, altered hydration, and biocrust successional state on dryland soil heterotrophic carbon and nitrogen cycling
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) on the Colorado Plateau may fuel carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling of soil heterotrophic organisms throughout the region. Late successional moss and lichen biocrusts, in particular, can increase soil C and N availability, but some data suggest these biocrust types will be replaced by early successional cyanobacterial biocrusts as the region undergoes warming anAuthorsColin Tucker, Scott Ferrenberg, Sasha C. ReedUltra‐high‐resolution mapping of biocrusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) occur in drylands globally where they support ecosystem functioning by increasing soil stability, reducing dust emissions and modifying soil resource availability (e.g. water, nutrients). Determining biocrust condition and extent across landscapes continues to present considerable challenges to scientists and land managers. Biocrusts grow in patches, cover vast eAuthorsCaroline Havrilla, Miguel L. Villarreal, Jacob DiBiase, Michael C. Duniway, Nichole Barger - News
- Partners
Below are partners associated with this project.