Biocrusts in the Context of Global Change

  1. Reed, Sasha C. 1
  2. Maestre, Fernando T. 2
  3. Ochoa-Hueso, Raúl 3
  4. Kuske, Cheryl R. 4
  5. Darrouzet-Nardi, Anthony 5
  6. Oliver, Mel 6
  7. Darby, Brian 7
  8. Sancho, Leopoldo G. 8
  9. Sinsabaugh, Robert L. 9
  10. Belnap, Jayne 1
  1. 1 United States Geological Survey
    info

    United States Geological Survey

    Reston, Estados Unidos

    ROR https://ror.org/035a68863

  2. 2 Area de Biodiversidad y Conservacion, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/ Tulipaán s/n, 28933, Móstoles, Spain
  3. 3 University of Western Sydney
    info

    University of Western Sydney

    Richmond, Australia

    ROR https://ror.org/03t52dk35

  4. 4 Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mail Stop m888, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA
  5. 5 Biological Sciences Department, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Ave., El Paso, TX, 79968, USA
  6. 6 USDA-ARS, Plant Genetics Research Unit, University of Missouri, 206 Curtis Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
  7. 7 Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, 10 Cornell Street, Stop 9019, Grand Forks, ND, 58202-9019, USA
  8. 8 Departamento de Biologia Vegetal II, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense, 28040, Madrid, Spain
  9. 9 Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, 167A Castetter Hall, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA
Buch:
Biological Soil Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands

ISSN: 0070-8356 2196-971X

ISBN: 9783319302126 9783319302140

Datum der Publikation: 2016

Seiten: 451-476

Art: Buch-Kapitel

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-30214-0_22 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen Access editor

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

Zusammenfassung

A wide range of studies show global environmental change will profoundly affect the structure, function, and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems. The research synthesized here underscores that biocrust communities are also likely to respond significantly to global change drivers, with a large potential for modification to their abundance, composition, and function. We examine how elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations, climate change (increased temperature and altered precipitation), and nitrogen deposition affect biocrusts and the ecosystems they inhabit. We integrate experimental and observational data, as well as physiological, community ecology, and biogeochemical perspectives. Taken together, these data highlight the potential for biocrust organisms to respond dramatically to environmental change and show how changes to biocrust community composition translate into effects on ecosystem function (e.g., carbon and nutrient cycling, soil stability, energy balance). Due to the importance of biocrusts in regulating dryland ecosystem processes and the potential for large modifications to biocrust communities, an improved understanding and predictive capacity regarding biocrust responses to environmental change are of scientific and societal relevance.

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