Ecological Society of America crust session, next Friday August 10

OOS 51 - Biological Soil Crusts: Their Diversity, Functional Ecology and Management

Friday, August 10, 2012: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM

A107, Oregon Convention Center

 

Organizer:

Bettina Weber

 

Co-organizer:

Jayne Belnap

 

Moderator:

Jayne Belnap

I
t has only recently been recognized that biological soil crusts (BSC) are a critical component of dryland ecosystems, contributing to the diversity, functionality and nutrient cycling of these regions worldwide. Formed by cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, fungi and bacteria in varying proportions, BSC grow within the uppermost millimeters of the soil, fulfilling a variety of ecosystem services. With their filaments BSC organisms glue together soil particles, thus effectively preventing erosion by both wind and water. BSC organisms in general and nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria in particular, add nutrients to nutrient-poor desert soils, thus promoting the establishment and growth of vascular plants. Their relevance and impact on global carbon and nitrogen cycles is just starting to be considered. During the last decade, studies on BSC have intensified and diversified, creating a unique and growing research community. As many of these topics are essential to understand the structure and function of dryland ecosystems, this research should be presented to the larger scientific community. The session is designed to provide an overall synthesis, covering all major fields of current BSC research at high scientific quality.

8:00 AM

 

OOS 51-1

 Biological soil crusts beyond the Phanerozoic
Hugo Beraldi-Campesi, Institute of Geology

8:20 AM

 

OOS 51-2

 Analysis of combined prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities in a geothermal biological soil crust through bar-coded pyrosequencing
James F. Meadow, Montana State University; Catherine A. Zabinski, Montana State University

8:40 AM

 

OOS 51-3

 Late-successional biological soil crusts in a biodiversity hotspot: An example of congruency in species richness
Rebecca R. Hernandez, Carnegie Institution for Science; Kerry Knudsen, University of California, Riverside

9:00 AM

 

OOS 51-4

 Diversity levels of biological soil crusts: The structural-, photoautotrophic species-, and the photosynthetic type-level
Burkhard Buedel, University of Kaiserslautern; Otto L. Lange, University of Würzburg; Claudia Colesie, University of Kaiserslautern; Wendy J. Williams, University of Queensland

9:20 AM

 

OOS 51-5

 The effects of geomorphology and associated soil properties on biological soil crust abundance and distribution
Nicole Pietrasiak, University of California; Jeffrey R. Johansen, John Carroll University; Rebecca E. Drenovsky, John Carroll University; Robert C. Graham, University of California, Riverside

9:40 AM

 

OOS 51-

 Break

9:50 AM

 

OOS 51-6

 The effects of well-developed biological soil crusts on vascular plants in a temperate desert of Northwestern China: Negative or positive?
Yuanming Zhang, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences

10:10 AM

 

OOS 51-7

 Soil crusts versus invasive annual grasses
Eric B. Peterson, California Lichen Society

10:30 AM

 

OOS 51-8

 Using mosses to restore ecosystem function to the Loess Plateau, China
Yunge Zhao, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University; Mingxiang Xu, Northwest A&F University

10:50 AM

 

OOS 51-9

 Biological crusts: A forgotten component of the global carbon and nitrogen cycle?
Bettina Weber, University of Kaiserslautern

11:10 AM

 

OOS 51-10

 Biological soil crusts as a model system in community and landscape ecology
Matthew A. Bowker, US Geological Survey; Fernando T. Maestre, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; David J. Eldridge, University of New South Wales