Seasonal Patterns of Nitrogen fixation in Biological Soil Crusts from British Columbia’s Chilcotin Grasslands - Botany

Seasonal Patterns of Nitrogen fixation in Biological Soil Crusts from British Columbia’s Chilcotin Grasslands - Botany This is bound to stir up controversy, an estimate of over 50 kg ha-1 of N fixed by biological crusts in these soils!

Dr. Johansen awarded research grant to study desert soil crusts

Dr. Johansen awarded research grant to study desert soil crusts

Final lineup - Biocrust Session Sept. 18, Biennial Conference for research on the Colorado Plateau, Flagstaff, Arizona

We are on for Sept. 18, 8:00a - 5:15p at the 12th Biennial Conference for Research on the Colorado Plateau, Dubois Center, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.

You'll find the conference web page here.

You may register for individual days or the whole conference.

There are 10 new speakers since the last time we did one of these (2011), and several graduate students or post-docs. And yes, we'll plan a crustie's night out.

Special Session

Biological Soil Crusts: Response to climate change and utility in ecological restoration

Morning Session

1. Introduction to special session

2. Belnap, J. et al. - BIOCRUST RESTORATION IN CHINA

3. Doherty, K. et al. - CULTIVATION OF BIOCRUST MOSSES FOR USE IN SOIL STABILIZATION AND RESTORATION

4. Chiquoine, L. et al. - RESTORATION OF BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS ON DISTURBED GYPSIFEROUS SOILS IN LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, EASTERN MOJAVE DESERT

5. Antoninka, A et al. - BIOCRUST RESTORATION METHODS IN A COLD AND HOT DESERT

6. Bowker, MA et al. - SEVEN YEARS OF BIOCRUST RECOVERY IN A COMMON GARDEN EXPERIMENT: CAN NUTRIENT AMMENDMENTS FACILITATE RESTORATION?

7. Aanderud, ZT et al. – EVALUATING POST-FIRE RECOVERY OF BIOCRUSTS AND DESERT ECOSYSTM SERVICES

8. Chung, YA et al. - THE ROLE OF CYANOBACTERIAL SOIL CRUSTS AND BELOWGROUND MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN DESERT GRASS COMPETITION 

Lunch Break

Afternoon Session

9. Reed, SC, et al. - CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS ON BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS: WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT FOR FUTURE BIOCRUST STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION?  

10. Garcia-Pichel, F, et al. – TEMPERATURE DETERMINES THE CONTINENTAL-SCALE DISTRIBUTION OF KEYSTONE BIOCRUST CYANOBACTERIA, FORECASTING A GLOBAL-CHANGE INDUCED DOMINANCE REPLACEMENT

11. Kuske, CR, et al. - CLIMATE CHANGES AND LAND USE CAUSE COMPOSITIONAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHANGES IN ARID LAND SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES

11. Neher, DA, et al. - CLIMATE CHANGE AND ECOSYSTEM CONSEQUENCES OF SOIL FAUNA IN BIOLOGICAL CRUSTS

12. Northen, T, et al. - Modeling metabolic dynamics in Colorado Plateau Biological Soil Crusts TO PREDICT THE IMPACTS OF CHANGING PRECIPITATION

13.Mukhopadhyay, A, et al. – DYNAMIC CYANOBACTERIAL RESPONSE TO HYDRATION AND DEHYDRATION IN A DESERT BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUST

14. Couradeau, E, et al. - COLONIZATION STAGES OF BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS AND RESPONSE THROUGH WET-UP

15. Williams, AJ et al. - Geomorphic controls on biological soil crust distribution: A conceptual model from the Mojave Desert (USA)

Greening of the Earth pushed way back in time

Greening of the Earth pushed way back in time

New work by Gregory Retallack about terrestrial fossils greater than 2 million years old. The identity of the organisms is unknown, but are compared to Geosiphon. Geosiphon is fascinating in that it is a non-lichen fungal-cyanobacterial symbiosis. The cyanobacteria are Nostoc, and they live ndosymbiotically -- inside the fungal cells. The fungi are interesting as well since they are not ascomycetes like almost all lichens (there are a few basidomycete lichens too). Rather they are a lineage of fungi close to the glomeromycota which form arbuscular mycorrhizas.

See my older post about a different controversial paper by Retallack.

We may have joined a cult

Art: Kirsten Coe Ryder

I'm away on family business, so have no time for blogging. In the meantime, purely for your amusement.....Kyle Doherty, Troy Wood &  I may have joined some sort of bryophyte & booze cult.

But seriously folks, we're glad to be a part of the Syntrichia work group, and many thanks to Brent Mishler for getting us all talking about our favorite desiccation tolerator and potential restoration material.

Changes in biocrust cover drive carbon cycle responses to climate change in drylands Maestre Global Change Biology Wiley Online Library

Changes in biocrust cover drive carbon cycle responses to climate change in drylands Maestre Global Change Biology Wiley Online Library

A new one from Fernando Maestre, Cristina Escolar et al....nice work!