What is a biocrust? A refined, contemporary definition for a broadening research community

Broader Impacts for Ecologists: Biological Soil Crust as a Model System for Education

(2021) Akasha M. Faist et al.   Frontiers in Microbiology

Cryptogams build up a living microcosm: Geoecological effects of biocrusts on volcanic tephra (Haleakalā, Maui, Hawai’i)

(2021) Francisco L. Pérez   CATENA

Biocrust islands enhance infiltration, and reduce runoff and sediment yield on a heavily salinized dryland soil

(2021) Jalil Kakeh et al.   GEODERMA

Water-driven microbial nitrogen transformations in biological soil crusts causing atmospheric nitrous acid and nitric oxide emissions

(2021) S. Maier et al.   ISME Journal

Spatial distribution of biological soil crusts along an aridity gradient in the central-west of Argentina

(2020) Ana L. Navas Romero et al.   JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

Biotic and abiotic effects on biocrust cover vary with microsite along an extensive aridity gradient

(2020) Jingyi Ding et al.   PLANT AND SOIL

Insights into dryland biocrust microbiome: geography, soil depth and crust type affect biocrust microbial communities and networks in Mojave Desert, USA

(2020) Nuttapon Pombubpa et al.   FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY

Temperate biocrusts: mesic counterparts to their better‐known dryland cousins

(2020) Jeffrey D Corbin et al.   FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The pervasive and multifaceted influence of biocrusts on water in the world's drylands

(2020) David J. Eldridge et al.   GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY

Life under quartz: Hypolithic mosses in the Mojave Desert

(2020) Jenna T. B. Ekwealor et al.   PLoS One

The fate of biological soil crusts after fire: A meta-analysis

(2020) Palmer Brianne et al.   Global Ecology and Conservation

Composition of biological soil crusts from sand dunes of the Baltic Sea coast in the context of an integrative approach to the taxonomy of microalgae and cyanobacteria

(2019) Tatiana Mikhailyuk et al.   EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY

Habitat-dependent composition of bacterial and fungal communities in biological soil crusts from Oman

(2019) Raeid M. M. Abed et al.   Scientific Reports

Forb ecology research in dry African savannas: Knowledge, gaps, and future perspectives

(2019) Frances Siebert et al.   Ecology and Evolution

Towards a predictive framework for biocrust mediation of plant performance: A meta‐analysis

(2019) Caroline A. Havrilla et al.   JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY

Desert breath—How fog promotes a novel type of soil biocenosis, forming the coastal Atacama Desert’s living skin

(2019) Patrick Jung et al.   Geobiology

Neglected but Potent Dry Forest Players: Ecological Role and Ecosystem Service Provision of Biological Soil Crusts in the Human-Modified Caatinga

(2019) Michelle Szyja et al.   Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Microbial mat ecosystems: Structure types, functional diversity, and biotechnological application

(2018) Cristina M. Prieto-Barajas et al.   ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

Contrasting surface soil hydrology regulated by biological and physical soil crusts for patchy grass in the high-altitude alpine steppe ecosystem

(2018) Zhi-Yun Jiang et al.   GEODERMA

Photoautotrophic organisms control microbial abundance, diversity, and physiology in different types of biological soil crusts

(2018) Stefanie Maier et al.   ISME Journal

Dryland photoautotrophic soil surface communities endangered by global change

(2018) Emilio Rodriguez-Caballero et al.   Nature Geoscience

Identity of plant, lichen and moss species connects with microbial abundance and soil functioning in maritime Antarctica

(2018) Alberto Benavent-González et al.   PLANT AND SOIL

Cyanobacterial biocrust diversity in Mediterranean ecosystems along a latitudinal and climatic gradient

(2018) M. Ángeles Muñoz-Martín et al.   NEW PHYTOLOGIST

Usual alga from unusual habitats: biodiversity of Klebsormidium (Klebsormidiophyceae, Streptophyta) from the phylogenetic superclade G isolated from biological soil crusts

(2018) Elena Samolov et al.   MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION

Biological soil crusts: diminutive communities of potential global importance

(2017) Scott Ferrenberg et al.   FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Ecosystem services provided by biocrusts: From ecosystem functions to social values

(2017) Emilio Rodríguez-Caballero et al.   JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

Assembly patterns of soil-dwelling lichens after glacier retreat in the European Alps

(2017) Juri Nascimbene et al.   JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY

Functional ecology of cryptogams: scaling from bryophyte, lichen, and soil crust traits to ecosystem processes

(2017) Kirsten K. Deane-Coe et al.   NEW PHYTOLOGIST

Complex role of the polymeric matrix in biological soil crusts

(2017) Federico Rossi et al.   PLANT AND SOIL

Biocrusts enhance soil fertility and Bromus tectorum growth, and interact with warming to influence germination

(2017) Scott Ferrenberg et al.   PLANT AND SOIL

Biological soil crusts decrease erodibility by modifying inherent soil properties on the Loess Plateau, China

(2017) Liqian Gao et al.   SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY

Biological soil crust and disturbance controls on surface hydrology in a semi-arid ecosystem

(2017) Akasha M. Faist et al.   Ecosphere

Summer Activity Patterns of Antarctic and High Alpine Lichendominated Biological Soil Crusts—Similar But Different?

(2016) Claudia Colesie et al.   ARCTIC ANTARCTIC AND ALPINE RESEARCH

Living in biological soil crust communities of African deserts—Physiological traits of green algal Klebsormidium species (Streptophyta) to cope with desiccation, light and temperature gradients

(2016) Ulf Karsten et al.   JOURNAL OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

Biological soil crusts of Arctic Svalbard and of Livingston Island, Antarctica

(2016) Laura Williams et al.   POLAR BIOLOGY

Estimated abundance and diversity of heterotrophic protists in South African biocrusts

(2016) Kenneth Dumack et al.   SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE

Climate Change and Physical Disturbance Manipulations Result in Distinct Biological Soil Crust Communities

(2015) Blaire Steven et al.   APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY

Climate change and physical disturbance cause similar community shifts in biological soil crusts

(2015) Scott Ferrenberg et al.   PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Continuous chlorophyll fluorescence, gas exchange and microclimate monitoring in a natural soil crust habitat in Tabernas badlands, Almería, Spain: progressing towards a model to understand productivity

(2014) J. Raggio et al.   BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Soil microstructure as an under-explored feature of biological soil crust hydrological properties: case study from the NW Negev Desert

(2014) Vincent John Martin Noah Linus Felde et al.   BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Green algae in alpine biological soil crust communities: acclimation strategies against ultraviolet radiation and dehydration

(2014) Ulf Karsten et al.   BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Improved appreciation of the functioning and importance of biological soil crusts in Europe: the Soil Crust International Project (SCIN)

(2014) Burkhard Büdel et al.   BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Effects of physical soil crusts on infiltration and splash erosion in three typical Chinese soils

(2014) Chong-feng BU et al.   International Journal of Sediment Research

Terrestrial biodiversity along the Ross Sea coastline, Antarctica: lack of a latitudinal gradient and potential limits of bioclimatic modeling

(2014) C. Colesie et al.   POLAR BIOLOGY

Controls on sediment production in two U.S. deserts

(2014) Jayne Belnap et al.   Aeolian Research

Biological soil crusts in continental Antarctica: Garwood Valley, southern Victoria Land, and Diamond Hill, Darwin Mountains region

(2013) Claudia Colesie et al.   ANTARCTIC SCIENCE

Changes in biocrust cover drive carbon cycle responses to climate change in drylands

(2013) Fernando T. Maestre et al.   GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY

Application of an electronic micropenetrometer to assess mechanical stability of biological soil crusts

(2013) Sylvie Laureen Drahorad et al.   JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION AND SOIL SCIENCE

Hydrology in a patterned landscape is co-engineered by soil-disturbing animals and biological crusts

(2013) Matthew A. Bowker et al.   SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY

Characteristics of carbon flux in two biologically crusted soils in the Gurbantunggut Desert, Northwestern China

(2012) Yan-gui Su et al.   CATENA

Contrasting hydrological response of coastal and desert biocrusts

(2012) Giora J. Kidron et al.   HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES

Contribution of cryptogamic covers to the global cycles of carbon and nitrogen

(2012) Wolfgang Elbert et al.   Nature Geoscience

Biological soil crust development affects physicochemical characteristics of soil surface in semiarid ecosystems

(2012) Sonia Chamizo et al.   SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY

Biological Soil Crusts in the Mojave Desert, USA: Micromorphology and Pedogenesis

(2012) Amanda J. Williams et al.   SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL

Comparative ecophysiology of three Placopsis species, pioneer lichens in recently exposed Chilean glacial forelands

(2012) J. Raggio et al.   SYMBIOSIS

Changes to dryland rainfall result in rapid moss mortality and altered soil fertility

(2012) Sasha C. Reed et al.   Nature Climate Change

Effects of biological soil crusts on soil nematode communities following dune stabilization in the Tengger Desert, Northern China

(2011) Yanmei Liu et al.   APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY

Aeolian and fluvial processes in dryland regions: the need for integrated studies

(2011) Jayne Belnap et al.   Ecohydrology

Runoff generation fostered by physical and biological crusts in semi-arid sandy soils

(2011) O. Malam Issa et al.   GEODERMA

Ecology and functional roles of biological soil crusts in semi-arid ecosystems of Spain

(2011) F.T. Maestre et al.   JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

Bryophyte-cyanobacterial associations as a key factor in N2-fixation across the Canadian Arctic

(2011) Katherine J. Stewart et al.   PLANT AND SOIL

Geologic composition influences distribution of microbiotic crusts in the Mojave and Colorado Deserts at the regional scale

(2011) Nicole Pietrasiak et al.   SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY

Extracellular polysaccharides from cyanobacterial soil crusts: A review of their role in dryland soil processes

(2010) D.M. Mager et al.   JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

A comparative genomics approach to understanding the biosynthesis of the sunscreen scytonemin in cyanobacteria

(2009) Tanya Soule et al.   BMC GENOMICS

Microbiotic soil crusts in the Sahel of Western Niger and their influence on soil porosity and water dynamics

(2009) O. Malam Issa et al.   CATENA

Untangling the biological contributions to soil stability in semiarid shrublands

(2009) V. Bala Chaudhary et al.   ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

Microbial activity and diversity during extreme freeze–thaw cycles in periglacial soils, 5400 m elevation, Cordillera Vilcanota, Perú

(2009) S. K. Schmidt et al.   EXTREMOPHILES

Effect of biological soil crusts on soil elemental concentrations: implications for biogeochemistry and as traceable biosignatures of ancient life on land

(2009) H. BERALDI-CAMPESI et al.   Geobiology

Microarthropod communities associated with biological soil crusts in the Colorado Plateau and Chihuahuan deserts

(2009) D.A. Neher et al.   JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

Biological soil crusts exhibit a dynamic response to seasonal rain and release from grazing with implications for soil stability

(2009) A. Jimenez Aguilar et al.   JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

The influence of biological soil crusts on dew deposition in Gurbantunggut Desert, Northwestern China

(2009) Jing Zhang et al.   JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY

The influence of competition between lichen colonization and erosion on the evolution of soil surfaces in the Tabernas badlands (SE Spain) and its landscape effects

(2008) R. Lázaro et al.   GEOMORPHOLOGY

A simple classification of soil types as habitats of biological soil crusts on the Colorado Plateau, USA

(2008) Matthew A. Bowker et al.   JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE

Southern African Biological Soil Crusts are Ubiquitous and Highly Diverse in Drylands, Being Restricted by Rainfall Frequency

(2008) Burkhard Büdel et al.   MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

Revisiting classic water erosion models in drylands: The strong impact of biological soil crusts

(2008) Matthew A. Bowker et al.   SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY

The variation of morphological features and mineralogical components of biological soil crusts in the Gurbantunggut Desert of Northwestern China

(2008) Rongyi Chen et al.   Environmental geology.