USGS researchers teamed up for a biological soil crust (biocrust) remote sensing and field data campaign near Moab, Utah in February of 2022.
Biological Soil Crust ("Biocrust") Science
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.
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 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.
We began 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
USGS researchers teamed up for a biological soil crust (biocrust) remote sensing and field data campaign near Moab, Utah in February of 2022.
Please don’t walk on the biocrust!
This photo of lichen was taken by SBSC in Moab, Utah as part of a biocrust study in 2021. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS.
This photo of lichen was taken by SBSC in Moab, Utah as part of a biocrust study in 2021. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS.
Collecting biocrust cover data to train and verify the UAS image classifications.
Collecting biocrust cover data to train and verify the UAS image classifications.
Close-up of biocrust filaments. Taken by SBSC during surveys, in Utah, 2020. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Close-up of biocrust filaments. Taken by SBSC during surveys, in Utah, 2020. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Biocrusts create a protective surface that retain soil moisture and protect seeds, facilitating seedling germination and survival. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, SBSC USGS, Utah, 2020.
Biocrusts create a protective surface that retain soil moisture and protect seeds, facilitating seedling germination and survival. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, SBSC USGS, Utah, 2020.
USGS SBSC staff surveying biocrust at a protected study site. Photo courtesy of Mike Duniway, Sept 2019.
USGS SBSC staff surveying biocrust at a protected study site. Photo courtesy of Mike Duniway, Sept 2019.
USGS researchers are studying how enhancing moss growth may lead to improved practices to restore soil biocrusts.
USGS researchers are studying how enhancing moss growth may lead to improved practices to restore soil biocrusts.
Mature biocrust with lichen. Photo taken by SBSC during surveys, 2018, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Mature biocrust with lichen. Photo taken by SBSC during surveys, 2018, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Biocrust survey, Colorado Plateau, Utah, with SBSC staff. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2018.
Biocrust survey, Colorado Plateau, Utah, with SBSC staff. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2018.
Dark biocrusts. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah during surveys, 2018, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Dark biocrusts. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah during surveys, 2018, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Biocrusts damaged by vehicle. Photo taken by SBSC during surveys, Utah, courtesy of Erika Geiger, 2018.
Biocrusts damaged by vehicle. Photo taken by SBSC during surveys, Utah, courtesy of Erika Geiger, 2018.
Biocrusts on the Colorado Plateau, canyonlands, Utah. Image courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2017.
Biocrusts on the Colorado Plateau, canyonlands, Utah. Image courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2017.
Biocrusts with moss species. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah, during surveys, 2017, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Biocrusts with moss species. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah, during surveys, 2017, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Person taking data in a healthy dryland grassland with dark biocrusts between bunchgrasses and cacti in Utah.
Person taking data in a healthy dryland grassland with dark biocrusts between bunchgrasses and cacti in Utah.
USGS scientist Jayne Belnap examines instrumentation to measure photosynthetic rates of biocrusts.
USGS scientist Jayne Belnap examines instrumentation to measure photosynthetic rates of biocrusts.
Many human activities can be unintentionally harmful to biological crusts. The biocrusts are no match for the compressional stress caused by footprints of livestock or people or tracks from vehicles.
Many human activities can be unintentionally harmful to biological crusts. The biocrusts are no match for the compressional stress caused by footprints of livestock or people or tracks from vehicles.
On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. These organisms perform critical functions, such as fertilizing soils and increasing soil stability, therefore reducing dust.
On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. These organisms perform critical functions, such as fertilizing soils and increasing soil stability, therefore reducing dust.
On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. Disturbed biocrusts are lighter in color, looking more like the underlying sand than undisturbed ones, and are less capable of stabilizing soils or providing soil fertility.
On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. Disturbed biocrusts are lighter in color, looking more like the underlying sand than undisturbed ones, and are less capable of stabilizing soils or providing soil fertility.
Biocrusts provide soil stability and prevent erosion. Soil is the foundation where plants live; if soil is not stable, native plants can have difficulty growing.
Biocrusts provide soil stability and prevent erosion. Soil is the foundation where plants live; if soil is not stable, native plants can have difficulty growing.
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.
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.
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 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.
We began 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
USGS researchers teamed up for a biological soil crust (biocrust) remote sensing and field data campaign near Moab, Utah in February of 2022.
USGS researchers teamed up for a biological soil crust (biocrust) remote sensing and field data campaign near Moab, Utah in February of 2022.
Please don’t walk on the biocrust!
This photo of lichen was taken by SBSC in Moab, Utah as part of a biocrust study in 2021. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS.
This photo of lichen was taken by SBSC in Moab, Utah as part of a biocrust study in 2021. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS.
Collecting biocrust cover data to train and verify the UAS image classifications.
Collecting biocrust cover data to train and verify the UAS image classifications.
Close-up of biocrust filaments. Taken by SBSC during surveys, in Utah, 2020. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Close-up of biocrust filaments. Taken by SBSC during surveys, in Utah, 2020. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Biocrusts create a protective surface that retain soil moisture and protect seeds, facilitating seedling germination and survival. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, SBSC USGS, Utah, 2020.
Biocrusts create a protective surface that retain soil moisture and protect seeds, facilitating seedling germination and survival. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, SBSC USGS, Utah, 2020.
USGS SBSC staff surveying biocrust at a protected study site. Photo courtesy of Mike Duniway, Sept 2019.
USGS SBSC staff surveying biocrust at a protected study site. Photo courtesy of Mike Duniway, Sept 2019.
USGS researchers are studying how enhancing moss growth may lead to improved practices to restore soil biocrusts.
USGS researchers are studying how enhancing moss growth may lead to improved practices to restore soil biocrusts.
Mature biocrust with lichen. Photo taken by SBSC during surveys, 2018, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Mature biocrust with lichen. Photo taken by SBSC during surveys, 2018, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Biocrust survey, Colorado Plateau, Utah, with SBSC staff. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2018.
Biocrust survey, Colorado Plateau, Utah, with SBSC staff. Photo courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2018.
Dark biocrusts. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah during surveys, 2018, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Dark biocrusts. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah during surveys, 2018, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Biocrusts damaged by vehicle. Photo taken by SBSC during surveys, Utah, courtesy of Erika Geiger, 2018.
Biocrusts damaged by vehicle. Photo taken by SBSC during surveys, Utah, courtesy of Erika Geiger, 2018.
Biocrusts on the Colorado Plateau, canyonlands, Utah. Image courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2017.
Biocrusts on the Colorado Plateau, canyonlands, Utah. Image courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2017.
Biocrusts with moss species. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah, during surveys, 2017, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Biocrusts with moss species. Photo taken by SBSC in Utah, during surveys, 2017, courtesy of Erika Geiger.
Person taking data in a healthy dryland grassland with dark biocrusts between bunchgrasses and cacti in Utah.
Person taking data in a healthy dryland grassland with dark biocrusts between bunchgrasses and cacti in Utah.
USGS scientist Jayne Belnap examines instrumentation to measure photosynthetic rates of biocrusts.
USGS scientist Jayne Belnap examines instrumentation to measure photosynthetic rates of biocrusts.
Many human activities can be unintentionally harmful to biological crusts. The biocrusts are no match for the compressional stress caused by footprints of livestock or people or tracks from vehicles.
Many human activities can be unintentionally harmful to biological crusts. The biocrusts are no match for the compressional stress caused by footprints of livestock or people or tracks from vehicles.
On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. These organisms perform critical functions, such as fertilizing soils and increasing soil stability, therefore reducing dust.
On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. These organisms perform critical functions, such as fertilizing soils and increasing soil stability, therefore reducing dust.
On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. Disturbed biocrusts are lighter in color, looking more like the underlying sand than undisturbed ones, and are less capable of stabilizing soils or providing soil fertility.
On the Colorado Plateau, mature biocrusts are bumpy and dark-colored due to the presence of lichens, mosses, and high densities of cyanobacteria and other organisms. Disturbed biocrusts are lighter in color, looking more like the underlying sand than undisturbed ones, and are less capable of stabilizing soils or providing soil fertility.
Biocrusts provide soil stability and prevent erosion. Soil is the foundation where plants live; if soil is not stable, native plants can have difficulty growing.
Biocrusts provide soil stability and prevent erosion. Soil is the foundation where plants live; if soil is not stable, native plants can have difficulty growing.
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.