Forest-Rangeland Soil Ecology Lab: New Paper: Community properties and spatial patter...

Forest-Rangeland Soil Ecology Lab: New Paper: Community properties and spatial patter...: Andrea Castillo-Monroy Aspects of soil lichen biodiversity and aggregation interact to influence subsurface microbial function. Plant So...

David Elliot blog

I just became aware of Dr. David Elliot's (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) blog. There's a lot of nice content on his biocrust research in the Kalahari Desert (such as this), computer science, and degraded peatland ecology. I recommend having a look.

More on Kalahari crusts here.

I aim to rebuild the living skin of the Earth

Living on Earth: Using Bacteria to Heal the Desert



Follow the link to a recent radio interview I did. It's about erosion and dust issues in the western US, and the practice of biocrust restoration. I think the finished product came out good….many thanks to Living on Earth intern Clairissa Baker, for initiating the interview.

Chemical & Engineering News: Green Energy's Environmental Impacts (Feat. F. Garcia-Pichel)

http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/i50/Green-Energys-Environmental-Impacts.html

Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine: Can biological soil crust communities be restored?

Nice, recent article on our biocrust restoration project on military lands (led by Nichole Barger with a team consisting of Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Ana Giraldo, Sergio Velasco, myself, Anita Antoninka, Jayne Belnap, Sasha Reed, & Mike Duniway) here.

Ana Giraldo tending her cyanobacterial cultures in the Garcia-Pichel lab (Arizona State University)

Upcoming biocrust course targeted to federal employees

Hi,

Please distribute to your networks.  

There is plenty of room available in the Biological Soil Crust course, to be held in Moab, Utah, March 25-27th.  Registration must be completed by Jan. 24th or we will be forced to cancel the course.  The course is taught by Jayne Belnap (USGS) and Roger Rosentreter (retired BLM ID State Botanist).  If budgets will allow, please sign up in DOI Learn (Course no. 1730-41).

If you have any questions, please contact me.  

Thanks!
--

Lori Young

Training Coordinator

Wildlife, Plant Conservation and IPM

BLM National Training Center

9828 N. 31st Avenue

Phoenix, AZ  85051

602-906-5640

lyoung@blm.gov

Visit my sharepoint site 

https://partnerteamspace.blm.doi.net/sites-nt/esa/default.aspx 

CEIA3 News: Proven benefits of soil crusts in arid zone conservation

http://www.ceia3.es/en/news/news/134-proven-benefits-of-soil-crusts-in-arid-zone-conservation

Canton et al. conduct a rainfall simulation experiment over biocrusts in southern Spain. Source: Agrifood Center of International Excellence, Spain (CEIA3.es)

Rapid adjustment of leaf angle explains how the desert moss, Syntrichia caninervis, copes with multiple resource limitations during rehydrationCSIRO PUBLISHING - Functional Plant Biology

CSIRO PUBLISHING - Functional Plant Biology

Way Overdue: A First-Ever Grazing Plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Way Overdue: A First-Ever Grazing Plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

The comment period on the Grand Staircase-Escalante NM Grazing Plan is open.

Thanks for attending the Biennial Conference for Research on the Colorado Plateau

Posing by the giant french fries sculpture. L to R: Ferran Garcia Pichel, Trent Northen, Ana Giraldo, Blair Steven, Estelle Couradeaux, Jayne Belnap, Yev Marusenko, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay, Anny Chung, Sergio Velasco, Mandy Williams, Eva Robinson, Lindsay Chiquoine, Cheryl McIntyre, Deb Neher, Matt Bowker, Zach Aanderud, Kyle Doherty, Anita Antoninka

Many thanks to all the attendees of our Biocrust session at the Biennial Conference. This year we brought in several new faces and have cemented a strong tradition. I hope to see you all back next time around.

The charismatic microflora of the desert: the incredible and important natural history of biological soil crusts

For those in the Flagstaff area, I'll be doing a talk about biocrusts for the general public, this Thursday, Oct 17 6:30pm. If you're not familiar with this event, imagine a department seminar with less jargon and more beer. It's fun (kinda wish department seminars were always like this!).

Physiological responses of soil crustforming cyanobacteria to diurnal temperature variation Wang 2012 Journal of Basic Microbiology Wiley Online Library

Physiological responses of soil crustforming cyanobacteria to diurnal temperature variation Wang 2012 Journal of Basic Microbiology Wiley Online Library

Biocrust data repository

Preface: After a quick glance at the Maestre lab blog, I see they have added links to datasets deposited for public use on Dryad. Good idea. In fact I need to make some old data available myself, the only reason I haven't being that I'd have to sit down and document metadata (yuck!) and make sure the data was easy for someone else to use and I have so much other shit to do in every waking minute that it just hasn't been done. One day....be patient. In the meantime, thanks to Fernando & Co. for showing us how we should be operating.

It occurs to me that there ought to be a single place where someone could go an find links to datasets containing some form of biocrust data, and that this blog is the perfect launching pad. I'll have to think about a nice, more permanent way to do it, but in the meantime it occurs to me I can do it as a simple blog post that I will permalink on the top bar. It will be called Biocrust Data Repository just like this post (do you see it up there?), and I will periodically update it with your help. If you want a link to a dataset posted, leave a comment. You'll have to deposit the data somewhere such as Dryad or your own website, and I will link to the URL that you provide.

Dryad
This is the most widely used repository for data. Here's a search for the term "biological soil crust".

Figshare
This is a widely used repository for figures, presentations, and in some cases datasets. Here's a search for the term "biological soil crust".

Specific data resources (check back for updates)
Castillo-Monroy AP, Maestre FT, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Gallardo A (2010) Biological soil crusts modulate nitrogen availability in semi-arid ecosystems:insights from a Mediterranean grassland. Plant and Soil 333:21-34.

Delgado-Baquerizo M, Maestre FT, Escolar C, Gallardo A, Ochoa V, Gozalo B, Prado-Comesaña A (2014) Direct and indirect impacts of climate change on microbial and biocrust communities alter the resistance of the N cycle in a semiarid grassland. Journal of Ecology 102(6): 1592-1605. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12303

Delgado-Baquerizo M, Gallardo A, Covelo F, Prado-Comesaña A, Ochoa V, Maestre FT (2015) Differences in thallus chemistry are related to species-specific effects of biocrust-forming lichens on soil nutrients and microbial communities. Functional Ecology 29(8): 1087-1098. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12403

Escolar C, Martinez I, Bowker MA, Maestre FT (2012) Warming reduces the growth and diversity of biological soil crusts in a semi-arid environment:implications for ecosystem structure and functioning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 367: 3087-3099.

Maestre FT, Puche MD (2009) Indices based on surface indicators predict soil functioning in Mediterranean semi-arid steppes. Applied Soil Ecology 41:342-350.

Weber B, Berkemeier T, Ruckteschler N, Caesar J, Heintz H, Ritter H, Brab H (2015) Development and calibration of a novel sensor to quantify the water content of surface soils and biological soil crusts. Methods in Ecology and Evolution http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12459


To submit a link to an archived dataset, please leave a comment with the original paper citation (if applicable) and a link to where the data can be downloaded.

Biocrusts of Northern Arizona National Monuments, Post 2: Moss key

This is my second post on biocrusts of National Monuments of Northern Arizona. See yesterdays post for a lichen key, here's a moss key. Liverworts were not observed by surveyors, but they are likely out there. The keys apply to Wupatki, Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, Montezuma Castle (& Well), and Tuzigoot National Monuments.

Field-based key to common biocrust mosses of National Monuments of the southern Colorado Plateau and Colorado Plateau-Sonoran Desert ecotone

1a) Upper leaves or entire plant white or silvery due to lack of chlorophyll; plants usually small (0.5 mm tall)................Bryum argenteum complex (may include B. argenteum, B. lanatum)

1b) Plants not whitish or silvery; plant sizes various............. 2

2a) Plants light green to yellowish, stems up to several cm long, frequently branched with a creeping growth form ……Brachythecium spp.

2b) Plants various colors, stems usually less than 1 cm, not branched or only sparingly branched and.….3

                        3a) Plants lacks awns (hair points on leaf tips), light green to black...4

4a) Plant light green, large (>1mm common) tongue shaped leaves (may be contorted when dry) with mucro at apex, Almost always bearing straight, erect sporophytes (~1-2.5 cm tall); older sporophytes exhibit cylindrical capsules topped with a characteristic white column ....................................Tortula inermis          

4b) Plant forest green above and reddish brown below when dry, shorter plants with linear-lanceolate leaves (sometimes contorted, sometimes ~ imbricate); if present mature sporophytes red with inclined capsule .............................................Ceratodon purpureus

                        3b) Plants with awns (usually whitish and toothed); colors various..5

5a) White awns longer than plant height; often giving appearance of white fuzzy tuft because plant is buried or inconspicuous ............Pterygoneurum spp. (Almost always P. ovatum but can’t be keyed in field without sporophyte)**

5b)White or yellowish awn length less than plant height; plants are generally above ground and easy to see .....6

6a) Awn is a yellowish extension of an acuminate leaf tip, wider at base; plant yellowish green or golden, mostly < 1mm tall .......................7

7a) Plant yellowish green, rarely in dense cushions; arid regions....Bryum kunzei 
7b) Plant golden yellow with a magenta colored stem (view wet), frequently in dense cushions; prefers shrub canopies in higher elevation areas.....Bryum caespiticium

6b) Awn is white and ~ same width along its entire length, plants light green, or darker (not yellow).....8

8a) Plants tall, often > 3mm height; plants lime green-dark green at top, reddish at base; leaves slightly twisted around stem when dry squarrose-recurved (curling back > 90º back from stem) when wet, costa frequently red …………...Syntrichia ruralis

8b) Plants small-med, usually less than 3mm tall: plants dark green-blackish at top, brown at base; leaves not twisted around stem when dry, patent (not curling back > 90º), costa never red…....Syntrichia caninervis

** If sporophyte is present:

5aa) Due to a short seta, the sporophyte capsule is immersed in leaves or barely sticking out, calyptra splits in 2 or more places, plants about 1mm high and green......Pterygoneurum subsessile
5bb) Seta a few mm long, sporophyte capsule exerted, calyptra splits along a single seam, plants very small and awns are much more more visible...............................Pterygoneurum ovatum

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

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!

BIOCRUST 2013, Madrid Day 1 Report

Arriving home after an all-nighter. Just joking! Actually, this is just how happy crust enthusiasts are to see others of their kind. We are heading out for dinner near the recently made-over Rio Manzanares. L-R: Chongfeng Bu, Jayne Belnap, Jayne's granddaughter Haylee (I'm guessing on spelling), Sasha Reed, Bettina Weber, Yunge Zhao, Nichole Barger, Sergio Velasco Ayuso, Ana Giraldo, Ferran Garcia-Pichel.

Many thanks to Leopoldo Sancho & Fernando Maestre and their respective labs for putting on a fantastic workshop on biological soil crusts in Madrid (aka BIOCRUST 2013). There were about 80 speakers and about 30 posters presented, and the organizers are working on compiling pdfs of all of these which will eventually be available here. Obviously Spain was well-represented, but we had a great international mix of researchers from France, Portugal, Germany, Poland, The US, The UK, Israel, Australia, Venezuela, New Zealand, Colombia, and others. An impressive development compared to the last workshop was the representation of our Chinese colleagues. Three different Chinese research groups were represented. Everyone I talked to enjoyed the short talks (10 minute slots). Also I liked that the posters were hung for the duration, so that every coffee break became a poster session. On the final day we had three proposals for the 2016 conference: 1. University of Queensland, Australia with an overnight field visit to Magnetic Island (Wendy Williams) , 2. Moab, Utah, USA (Jayne Belnap), 3. The Negev Desert, Israel (Eli Zaady). I think all of these ideas were winners, but Moab took the votes. 

Dinner, the night before the conference. 

A few day one highlights - 
Sasha Reed talked about effects of warming and increased precipitation frequency primarily on mosses.  The mosses nearly completely die-off due to high frequency, short duration hydration events. The use of infrared heating lamps sparked some discussion because they deliver not only a warming treatment but also a drying effect. In my opinion, real global warming will also come with drying...therefore the lamps are a reasonable simulation. Cristina Escolar followed this up perfectly with her results using passive warming chambers. The warming (and probably associated drying) is killing off lichens, and reducing production but increasing soil carbon. The authors think the carbon is from the decomposition of the lichens, and that in the long term sequestration potential will decrease.

There was considerable excitement when Nick Vandehey spoke about the Berkeley lab's capability of making C11, a short-lived radio-isotope, incubating crusts with labeled CO2, then producing an image displaying not only how much C was fixed, but also the spatial pattern of C-fixation.

Enrique Valencia spoke about his recently started project which manipulates crust biodiversity and two global change factors. It's like the Cedar Creek experiment in miniature - both in size and budget, a perfect model system.

Possibly the talk that sparked my personal interest the most on day one was Antonio Gallardo's. He looked at the effects of different lichen species on soil C and N species, soil microbiota (including ammonia oxidizers), and polyphenol chemicals. First he found that all lichens regardless of the species were more similar to each other in terms of their effects on the above mentioned variables than to either bare areas, or soil under grasses. When honing in just on the lichens they did have distinct influences on the soil biogeochemical cycling. It was Diploschistes diacapsis that exerted the most unique effects on most variable, and also this lichen that contained the most polyphenols. This suggests that the lichens influence soil microbial communities with their polyphenols, and therefore alter the biogeochemical cycling performed by the soil microbes.

Having some tapas in the city center before going to dinner.  (L-R: Anita Antoninka, Nichole Barger, Antonio Gallardo, Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Sasha Reed, Santi Soliveres, Manu Delgado, Sergio Velasco).

A little explanation: So, a man came in and wouldn't leave us alone until Ferran bought some flashing bows that you wear on your head. They came out for the photos.

Another footnote: apparently this restaurant was on Gordon Ramsey's reality TV show Kitchen Disasters. 

Conference attendees recreate Da Vinci's last supper.

This is made even more perfect by Sasha's glowing and blinking "halo", purchased for only 1 euro. Give her a break, she gave her talk that morning and its the night before her birthday. (L to R): Santi Soliveres, Antonio Gallardo, Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Sergio Velasco, Sasha Reed, Anita Antoninka, Bettina Weber, Manu Delgado.

New paper (SBB): Biological soil crust community types differ in key ecological functions

Nicole Pietrasiak et al. measure contributions of 8 types of Mojave Desert biocrusts to ecosystem functions: N-fixation, C-fixation, and soil aggregate stability
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038071713001831

Biological Soil Crust Secrets Uncovered « Berkeley Lab News Center

Biological Soil Crust Secrets Uncovered « Berkeley Lab News Center


This paper about the gene expression events in wet-up and dry-down events in Microcoleus vaginatus crusts is currently making the rounds in the science press. I may write up a more in depth summary of this soon....so stay tuned. Also, I will have four authors of this work: Aindrila Muktopadhyay, Trent Northen, Ferran Garcia-Pichel and Eoin Brodie speaking in September in Flagstaff, in a special session in the Biennial Conference for Research on the Colorado Plateau. Please attend if you are in the neighborhood, these guys are all good.

I love this pic of Trent. It reminds me of a before photo of a Dr. Jeckyll-Mr. Hyde transformation. Or maybe that he's noticing a resemblance between a Microcoleus culture and a cold refreshing Mountain Dew. (Just teasing, Trent. Serious congrats on a great paper!)

links:
Phys.org
Science Daily

original paper in ISME