We studied the bacterial communities in biological soil crusts (BSCs) from the Colorado Plateau by enrichment and cultivation, and by statistically analyzed denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis ...

Biologists have performed a molecular level analysis of desert biological soil crusts -- living ground cover formed by microbial communities -- to reveal how long-dormant cyanobacteria become ...

A new study published in The Innovation has revealed the microstructure and expansion mechanism of cyanobacteria-dominated biological soil crusts (BSCs). By employing micro-scale X-ray computed ...

When was the last time you gave much thought to the soil crust? If you’re like me, it has probably been at least a week or two. Frequently found in semiarid and arid environments, biological soil ...

Biological soil crusts, commonly known as biocrusts, are intricate communities composed of cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses and other microorganisms that inhabit the uppermost layer of soils in arid and ...

This view of Hill Air Force Base in the west desert of Utah is more delicate than it might look, given that it contains extremely delicate biocrusts that a CU-led team is studying in an attempt to ...

"Biological soil crusts" don't look like much. In fact, people often trample right over these dark, or green-tinted, sometimes raised patches in the desert soil. But these scruffy stretches can house ...

Across the semi-arid, windswept areas of the American West, as well as in dry places around the world, biological soil crust clings to the soil in places where vascular plants, like trees and grasses ...

Biological soil crust organisms found to play an active role in the development of soil structures and the allocation of water and nutrients. Deserts creep outward in various directions across the ...

In this study, we conducted rainfall simulation experiments in a cool desert ecosystem to examine the role of biological soil crust disturbance and composition on dissolved and sediment C and N losses ...

Perhaps the hardiest assemblage of lichens and other fungi and algae yet found has been hiding in plain sight in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert. This newly discovered “grit-crust,” as ecologists have ...

"Biological soil crusts" don't look like much. In fact, people often trample right over these dark, or green-tinted, sometimes raised patches in the desert soil. But these scruffy stretches can house ...