A networking resource devoted to biological soil crusts and the researchers who study them. We will provide a means for international scientists to communicate, share their research, share important news and announcements, ask questions and find collaborators. We will also provide a space for informal writing on research, opinion, and ideas (now seeking posters!).
It's been about a 3 week monolith of traveling for me. First, EGU in Vienna, then teaching a crust class in Boise, Idaho, then fieldwork near St. George, Utah. I've been wanting to post about all of these activities but finding the time has been tough.
You may have noticed that the incredibly handy biocrust researcher directory disappeared. Here's how handy it was: when I got asked to review a crust paper and had no time, I would direct the editor to select another qualified researcher form the directory. That's bloody useful. Deleting it was not a conscious decision, rather it was a terrible error on my part. I tried to update one listing and deleted the whole stinking thing. I did this before finishing my coffee....that's why you always finish your coffee before you do anything. Apparently there is no way to recover it, so I'll rebuild it some weekend when I've got a couple hours.
So, about EGU....the thursday crust session was moderated by Giora Kidron, and had a fairly hydrological bent to it. My personal favorite talk of the day was Ferran Garcia-Pichel's talk about detection of fossil crusts and the roles of polysaccharide slime in shaping the way the biosphere works, since the Precambrian. That's right, before plants there were crusts.
Here's a few pics from the poster session that evening:
Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo from Sevilla reveals how damned complicated N-cycling can be. I'll have to have him teach me more about the N-cycle when he visits over the summer and we'll throw some statistical models at it.
Most of the French biocrust team had to leave after the oral session, but Fiona Ehrhardt represents. I had a difficult time holding my silly complimentary wine cup while taking a photo, hence the shaky bigfoot picture effect. She's talking to Ferran here.
Jane Bevan and Roy Alexander talking to Jayne about a cool lichen transplant study in southern Spain.
Sonia Chamizo manning not one but two posters in addition to giving a talk. Superhero.
Below I include my favorite photos from Vienna. I only managed a little tourism, but a little pays dividends in this city:
Hundertwasser House, outside of the city center, this apartment building combines every texture and color and multiple architectural styles and collages them. It also has enough vegetation growing on it that it resembles a lost city.
The best thing about medieval architecture is the details. Gothic cathedrals are absolutely encrusted with minor sculptures. This one probably took a sculptor months, but how many people notice it and what does it mean?
Here's the actual cathedral Stephansdom. It's especially unique because of the multi-colored tile roof pronouncing Hapsburg mojo. You can see why it might be easy to miss a 10 cm winged skull.
I
add this to my collection of photos of dinosaur graffiti. Sorry about
the meteor dude, sad story indeed.
Kyle Doherty sent me the following from Mesa Verde:
"I came across an old
decommissioned asphalt road today that appears to be losing ground to some crust. I didn't excavate to see how far it had encroached upon the road, as I didn't want to disturb it. I thought it was pretty cool given the level of development."
It reminds me of an old steel cattle tank I saw near Canyonlands. The rivets had rusted out, and it couldn't hold much water anymore, but had accumulated some soil which grew a nice little crust garden. Even better, Sue Phillips used to have a beer bottle found out in the Mojave desert. Soil had blown in and a biocrust complete with mosses had grown in there as if it were a greenhouse.
The first of two soil crust-heavy sessions at EGU happened today. Overall, there were quite a few good presentations or posters. There were 2 in particular that really stuck with me:
1. Thomas Fischer talked about his method of measuring NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) using images from a common digital camera. In addition to the RGB channels, he also takes paired images with and without an Infrared filter, so that he can actually approximate a 4 channel image. Multispectral imagery is very powerful (yet very expensive) for detecting a large number of phenomena including the development of biocrusts. One big problem is that the best possible spatial resolution that can be attained is a 25 cm pixel size. Fischer's approach enables image resulution in microns and makes image analysis affordable for a few hundred dollars.
2. Omarou Malam Issa presented a poster on a project led by Ambouta Karimou Jean-Marie documenting local knowledge of biocrusts in the Sahel region of Africa. The authors sampled the knowledge of people living along a latitudinal gradient of both sexes and belonging to either pastoralist or horticulturalist communities. The sampling spanned 5 different ethnic groups. Interestingly two different ethnic groups, speaking different languages, had converged on the name "toad back" for biocrusts due to it's dark bumpy appearance ("Bankwado" and "Korobanda"). Quite a few other references basically translated to either black soil or fertile soil. The majority of people surveyed clearly knew what biocrusts were. This is a really unique line of research which makes me curious about the native knowledge of biocrusts on North America.
Dr. Maik Veste recently wrote me to let me know about his updated website on ecophysiology of biocrusts and dryland plants. It features photos from such disparate locations as Denmark, Germany, Israel and South Africa. There is also quite alot of content including papers, conference abstracts and a few posters. Find the website here.
Biocrusts on coastal dunes of Denmark. Photo: Veste, www.drylandresearch.de
The EGU schedule is now up. As promised here are the programs of the two sessions I know of which feature biological and physical soil crusts and dust (solely for space considerations, I haven't listed some cool sounding talks form the same sessions but on very different topics). I imagine there are several other interesting sessions on, e.g. soil erosion, so check it out yourself....the program is huge and can be found here. You'll note the sheer volume of material on biocrusts and related topics is huge here. It makes me think there ought to be an annual international crust conference.
Dynamics of soil surface characteristics (including physical and biological soil crusts): consequences on soil functioning and role of climate and land use change
Tuesday, 24 Apr 2012, Room: 22
Oral Presentations Convener: O. Cerdan, O. Malam Issa , B. Marin , J. L. Rajot
08:30–08:45 EGU2012-359 What controls dryland soil stability? The surprising importance of biocrusts and their possible sensitivity to climate change - M.A Bowker, J. Belnap, F.T. Maestre, and V.B. Chaudhary
08:45–09:00 EGU2012-3692 Biological soil crust succession impact on soil moisture and temperature in the sub-surface along a rainfall gradient - E. Zaady, H. Yizhaq, and Y Ashkenazy
09:00–09:15 EGU2012-2760 Net primary productivity (NPP) of a biological soil crust (BSC) in northwestern Queensland, Australia -B. Büdel, H. Reichenberger, and W. Williams
09:15–09:30 EGU2012-2193 Effects of biological soil crusts on seedling growth and element uptake in five desert plants in Junggar Basin, western China (withdrawn) - Y. Zhang
09:30–09:45 EGU2012-1970 A predictive model of spatial distribution of Biological Soil Crust in the Sahel from local to regional scale - N. Beaugendre, A. Choné, C. Sannier, J.F. Desprats, O. Cerdan, C. Valentin, O. Malam Issa, and J.L. Rajot
09:45–10:00 EGU2012-7052 High resolution mapping of Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVI) of biological soil crusts - T. Fischer, M. Veste, A. Eisele, O. Bens, W. Spyra, and R.F. Hüttl
Poster Session24 Apr 17:30–19:00 Hall X/YChairperson: O. Malam Issa
XY598 EGU2012-11184 Hydrodynamic behaviour of crusted soils in the Sahel: a possible cause for runoff increase? - m. malam abdou, j.-p. vandervaere, i. bouzou moussa, and l. descroix
XY599 EGU2012-13804 Interactions between soil structure and excess water formation on chernozem soils - N. Gál and A. Farsang
XY600 EGU2012-12385 Surface soil crust types, properties and their response to ameliorants in the irrigated field of Eastern Ethiopia - F. Kebede, E. Mekonnen, N. Taha, A. Verdoodt, and E. Van Ranst
XY601 EGU2012-6396 Wind erosion flux measurements and variability on traditionally cultivated fields in South West Niger: crop residues and soils crust impacts - A. Abdourhamane Touré, J.L. Rajot, Z. Garba, B. Marticorena, C. Petit, D. Sebag, and O. Malam Issa
XY602 EGU2012-11864 Effect of biological soil crusts of the Sahel (Niger) on wind erosion - J. L. Rajot, R. Paris, O. Malam Issa, A. Maman, A. Abdourhamane Touré, C. Valentin, and B. Marticorena
XY604 EGU2012-4189 Including physical and biological soil crusts properties in gully prediction - A. Gay, O. Cerdan, J.F. Desprats, O. Malam Issa, C. Valentin, J.L. Rajot, and L. Descroix
XY605 EGU2012-7524 Calibration of a physically based soil erosion model for different kind of biological soil crust - O. Cerdan, M. Le, O. Malam Issa, C. Valentin, JL. Rajot, and JF. Desprats
XY606 EGU2012-9307 Estimating the loss of C, N and microbial biomass from Biological Soil Crusts under simulated rainfall - M. Gommeaux, O. Malam Issa, T. Bouchet, C. Valentin, J.-L. Rajot, I. Bertrand, G. Alavoine, J.-F. Desprats, O. Cerdan, and D. Fatondji
XY607 EGU2012-13569 Diminution of soil carbon sequestration following 72 years grazing disturbance; a study of cyanobacterial soil crusts from the Australian Mulga Lands - W. Williams, D. Eldridge, B. Budel, and H. Reichenberger
XY608 EGU2012-9879 Measurement of dinitrogen fixation by Biological soil crust (BSC) from the Sahelian zone: an isotopic method -F. Ehrhardt, G. Alavoine, and I. Bertrand
XY609 EGU2012-9264 Effect of mineralogical, geochemical and biological properties on soils reflectance to assess temporal and spatial dynamics of BSCs in Sahelian ecosystems - A. Bourguignon, O. Cerdan, J.F. Desprats, B. Marin, O. Malam Issa, C. Valentin, and J.L. Rajot
XY610 EGU2012-9353 Variability of physicochemical and mineralogical characteristics of biological soil crusts at local scale in the Sahelian zone of western Niger - B. Cancès, G. Gommeaux, B. Marin, M. Ponthieu, C. Ralahimanana, S. Ayachi, and O. Malam Issa
XY611 EGU2012-12145 Relationship between the herbaceous and woody vegetation caracteristics and biological soil crusts distribution in fallow and rangeland across a latitudinal gradient in Sahelian Western Niger - O. Malam Issa, P. Hiernaux, A. Kalilou, J.L. Rajot, and J. Languille
XY612 EGU2012-10285 Local knowledge and perception of biological soil crusts by land users in the Sahel (Niger) - K. J-M Ambouta, B. Hassan Souley, O. Malam Issa, J. L. Rajot, and A Mohamadou
Biophysical processes: from biological soil crusts to macro process
09:30–09:45 EGU2012-247 Biological Soil Crusts Influence Hydrologic Function Differently in Various Deserts And Future Climate and Land Use will Affect These Relationships - J. Belnap, B. Wilcox, N. Barger, J. Herrick, and M. van Soyoc
09:45–10:00 EGU2012-358 Runoff source or sink? Biocrust hydrological function strongly depends on the relative abundance of mosses - M.A. Bowker, D.J. Eldridge, and F.T. Maestre
10:30–10:45 EGU2012-13225 Role of Biological Soil Crusts on hydrological cycle drivers of semiarid ecosystems- Y. Canton, S. Chamizo, E. Rodriguez-Caballero, I. Miralles, R. Lazaro, A. Sole-Benet, and F. Domingo
10:45–11:00 EGU2012-5034 Infiltration, water holding capacity and growth patterns of biological soil crusts on sand dunes under arid and temperate climates - T. Fischer, A. Yair, and M. Veste
11:00–11:15 EGU2012-650 Effects of sand burial and wind disturbances on moss soil crusts in a revegetated area of the Tennger Desert, Northern China - R.L. Jia, X.R. Li, L.C. Liu, and Y.H. Gao
11:15–11:30 EGU2012-6898 Microbial exopolysaccharides as determinants of geomorphological, hydrological and optical properties of soil crusts from the Precambrian till today- F. Garcia-Pichel
11:30–11:45 EGU2012-1182 Will climate change reduce the ability of biological soil crusts to act as a carbon sink in drylands? - F. T. Maestre, C. Escolar, J. L. Quero, M. Ladrón de Guevara, R. Lázaro, V. Ochoa, B. Gozalo, and M. Berdugo
11:45–12:00Toward a Synthesis: Bridging the gap between micro and macro, methodological dilemmas and collaboration between life and earth scientists
Poster Session 17:30–19:00 Hall XL Chairperson: J. Belnap
XL272 EGU2012-2187 Cryptogamic communities in biological soil crusts in arid deserts of China: Diversity and their relationships to habitats in different scales - X.R. Li, M.Z. He, X.J. Li, and R.L. Jia
XL273 EGU2012-2191 Effects of patchy distribution of vegetation on infiltration, runoff generation and resources redistribution in Tengger Desert, north China - X.J. Li
XL274 EGU2012-4142 Ecohydrology of biological soil crusts in arid sand dunes - integration from the micro-scale to the landscape (solicited) - M. Veste, A. Yair, S.-W. Breckle, and T. Littmann
XL275 EGU2012-6372 Development of biological soil crusts and their influence on soil hydrology in the recultivation area of lignite open-cast mining district in Lower Lusatia (Germany) - R. Spröte, M. Veste, T. Fischer, T. Raab, O. Bens, and R. F. Hüttl
XL276 EGU2012-13058 The role of biological soil crusts on soil moisture - S. Chamizo, Y. Cantón, R. Lázaro, E. Rodriguez-Caballero, and F. Domingo
XL277 EGU2012-1784 Influence of biological soil crusts at different successional stages in the implantation of biogeochemical cycles in arid and semiarid zones - F. Gil-Sotres, I Miralles, Y. Canton -Castilla, F. Domingo, M.C. Leiros, and C. Trasar-Cepeda
XL278 EGU2012-1005 C, N and P ratios modulate the dominance of soil N forms, microbial N transformation processes and microbial functional diversity under biological soil crust in a semi-arid grassland - M. Delgado-Baquerizo, L. Morillas, F. Maestre, and A. Gallardo
XL279 EGU2012-3306 Biological soil crusts are the main contributor to winter soil respiration in a temperate desert ecosystem of China - M. Z. He
XL280 EGU2012-9531 Biological soil crusts (BSC) in the Sahelian zone. Can they impact soil C and N cycles? - F. Ehrhardt, I. Bertrand, C. Joulian, C. Valentin, G. Alavoine, and O Malam Issa
XL281 EGU2012-6607 Endurance of Australian dry-savannah cyanobacteria regulated by extra-cellular polysaccharides - EPS and environment - W. Williams, B. Budel, H. Reichenberger, and N. Rose
XL283 EGU2012-11040 Transplant experiments to examine the habitat exclusivity of lichen dominated soil crust communities in the El Cautivo badlands, SE Spain - J. Bevan, R. Alexander, and R. Lazaro-Suau
XL284 EGU2012-2220 The physiology mechanisms on drought tolerance and adaptation of biological soil crust moss Bryum argenteum and Didymodon vinealis in Tenger Desert - X. Zhao., Y. Shi., C. Chen., R. Jia., and X. Li.
XL285 EGU2012-4961 A Process-based Model of Global Lichen Productivity - P. Porada and A. Kleidon
XL286 - EGU2012-948 Mapping biological soil crusts for understanding their functional relevance in dryland ecosystems -E. Rodriguez-Caballero, P Escribano, S Chamizo, and Y Canton
XL287- EGU2012-931 Distribution patterns of terricolous and saxicolous lichens in extreme desert conditions -M. Temina
XL288 - EGU2012-3533 Mycobiota of biological soil crusts in the Negev desert, Israel - differences on a regional and local scale - I. Grishkan, E. Zaady, and G. Kidron
XL289 EGU2012-416 Runoff initiation versus runoff yield: Understanding the complexity of the hydrological effect of biological soil crusts - G.J. Kidron, H.C. Monger, B. Büdel, A. Vonshak, and W. Conrod
Photo: KNAU radio, photographer unknown. Ain't it cool? Notice the gradient in architecture that coincides with soil depth. There is a real sweet spot in soil depth about 10 - 50 cm away from the bedrock exposure. Also notice all the trapped sand in the microcanyons.
I recently chatted with a writer (Cecile Leblanc) for Earth Notes, a series of radio shorts broadcast on KNAU, an NPR station in Northern Arizona. Apparently, the editor had attended the crust session at the Biennial Conference for research on the Colorado Plateau, discussed in previous posts. He was intrigued by one of the talks, probably Jayne's, specifically about possible crust effects on plants. Anyways that led to a phone call and interview with Cecile. She summarized our conversation in this short. She focused on the possible good effects of crusts on plants, rather than the "crusts as germination barrier" or "crusts as competitors" views, but I think that's reasonable in a Colorado Plateau context.
I can't figure out how to embed this one...but here's a link.
This is the organized oral session at ESA that I mentioned in previous posts, exact data TBA.
Principal Organizer: Bettina Weber
Co-organizer: Jayne Belnap
Speakers: 1. Hugo Beraldi, Arizona State University, USA
Title: “Biological Soil Crusts beyond the Phanerozoic” 2. Prof. Dr. Burkhard Büdel, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Title: “Diversity levels of biological soil crusts: the structural-, photoautotrophic species-, and the photosynthetic type-level” 3. Nicole Pietrasiak, University of California, USA
Topic: The effects of geomorphology and soil properties on crust abundance and distribution 4. Prof. Dr. Ferran Garcia-Pichel, Arizona State University, USA (not sure yet)
Topic: The nitrogen cycle of biological soil crusts: who’s doing what where, and why it matters 5. Prof. Dr. Leopoldo Sancho, Universidad Complutense, Spain
Title: “Long-term measurements of lichen activity and growth in warm and cold deserts” 6. Dr. Bettina Weber, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Title: “Biological crusts: a forgotten component of the global carbon cycle?” 7. Yunge Zhao, Soil and Water Institute, Xian, China
Title: “Using mosses to restore ecosystem function to the Loess Plateau, China” 8. Matthew Bowker, US Geological Survey, USA
Title: “Biological soil crusts as a model system in community and landscape ecology”
Description
It 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. Meanwhile, the importance of BSC is also being highlighted by public forums. Last year, a meeting on BSC demonstrated the relevance of topics currently being explored by the research community. As many of these topics are essential to understanding the structure and function of dryland ecosystems, we realized that this research should be presented to the larger scientific community.
Our proposed symposium will include both broad overviews as well as case studies that address the various aspects of BSC. After some introductory remarks, the session will start out with a description of BSC organisms and their ecology in historic times. The present biodiversity of photoautotrophic organisms and fungi, as determined by classical taxonomic and molecular techniques will be illustrated and the abiotic controls on their distribution patterns will be discussed. The roles and relevance of BSC in local and global carbon and nitrogen cycles, which currently form one major research issue, will be highlighted in the following talks. Employment of BSC as model systems in community and landscape ecology will be discussed. Due to their soil stabilization and nutrient input, BSC organisms have been successfully utilized in restoration projects, which will be presented. The long-term effects of human activities (like pesticides) will be explained and finally, the utilization of remote sensing techniques for the mapping and monitoring of BSC distribution patterns will be discussed.
The session is designed to provide an overall synthesis covering all major current BSC research topics at high scientific quality.
Nichole Barger had organized this region-specific conference. This is not devoted to biocrusts, but because it is centered around the "crust capitol" of SE Utah it will feature a strong presence of biocrust research and researchers. There will be some good material on dust too.Alas, the crusts will only be supporting cast in my talk, but the conference lineup looks pretty good.
Canyon Country Science Symposium
March 12-14, 2012
Red Cliffs Lodge, Moab, Utah
Monday, March 12th
Afternoon of the 12th, out of town symposium participants arrive at the lodge. 2:00-5:00 pm Canyonlands Research Center, Science and Management Advisory Council 6:00-6:30pm Mixer and happy hour at the lodge 6:30- 8:00 Group dinner*
Wednesday, March 14th 9:00-11:30 Oral presentations 11:30-12:00 Check out and pick up sack lunches 12:00-2:00 Field trip to Belnap research sites
Tuesday, March 13th
Morning Session
9:00-9:30 To be announced, BLM, NPS, and USFS Research to support management needs in Canyon Country: A BLM, NPS, and USFS perspective
9:30-9:45 Jayne Belnap, USGS, Moab Rethinking the critical zone: in deserts, it’s the small things that count
10:00-10:15 Cheryl Kuske, Los Alamos Nat’l Lab Biocrust bacterial community responses to increased
temperature, altered precipitation and physical disturbance
10:15-10:30 Trent Northen, Lawrence Berkeley Labs Metabolic dynamics of Colorado Plateau Biological Soil Crusts
10:30-10:45 Matt Bowker, USGS, Flagstaff Assessing the provisioning of multiple ecosystem services
in semi-arid rangelands
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-11:15 Troy Wood, USGS, Flagstaff Population genetic structure in three foundational grassland
species: implications for restoration in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
11:15-11:30 Matt Miller, USGS, Moab Assessing watershed condition in streams and rivers of the semi-arid Colorado Plateau: An example of aquatic macroinvertebrates as indicators of stream habitat conditions
11:30-11:45 Rebecca Weissinger, NPS, Moab Springs monitoring in Northern Colorado Plateau Network
national park units
11:45-12:00 Susanna Pearlstein, University of Arizona Monitoring vegetation change on three rivers in the western United States
12:00-1:00 Lunch Break
Tuesday, March 13th
Afternoon Session
1:00-2:15 Poster Session See presenters below
2:15-2:30 Jason Neff, CU-Boulder The causes of increasing dust storm frequency over the past decade and the impacts of dust on air quality in SE Utah
2:30-2:45 Cody Flagg CU-Boulder Spatial and Temporal Variability of Fugitive Dust Flux from Colorado Plateau Landscapes
2:45-3:00 Mark Brunson, USU Dust, crust, plants and people: Testing a model of cross-scale human-nature interactions for the Colorado Plateau
3:00-3:15 Scott Hoffman, USU Road dust emissions and suppression and effects of dust on vegetation in Arches Nat'l Park
3:15-3:30 Marith Reheis, USGS, Denver Seasonal Deposition Rates and Compositions of Aeolian Dust in the Canyonlands Area
3:30-3:45 Rich Reynolds, USGS, Denver Nutrients from atmospheric mineral dust across the Colorado Plateau
3:45-4:00 Break
4:00-4:15 Mike Duniway, USGS, Moab Shallow soils, roots in rocks, and plant-water availability: Implication for Colorado Plateau ecohydrology
4:15-4:30 Sasha Reed, USGS, Moab Ecosystem consequences of nitrogen deposition in the Four Corners region, USA
4:30-4:45 Tim Wertin, USGS, Moab Increased temperature negatively affects carbon assimilation and growth of Achantherum hymenoides bunchgrass
4:45-5:00 Jane Zelikova, USGS,Mendenhall Livestock grazing on the Colorado Plateau: Impacts for above and belowground carbon stocks.
Tuesday, March 13th, Afternoon Poster Session
Harland Goldstein, USGS, Denver Loess deposits in the Hatch Point-Canyon Rims area: physical characteristics and correlation to aeolian and fluvial records in southeastern Utah
Leah Lewis, USU Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) occupancy: A measure of habitat quality and productivity in canyon habitats
Matt Lewis, USU Roads impact the reproduction of an endangered Utah endemic shrub.
Amy Tendick, NPS Canyonlands National Park Vegetation Map and Geodatabase: A Tool for Future Research in the Park
Frank Urban, USGS, Denver Local and Regional Airborne Dust in the Canyonlands Region: Integrated Analysis of Digital Imagery, Total Suspended Particulate, and Meteorological Data
Seth Munson, USGS, Denver Responses of wind erosion to climate-induced vegetation changes on the Colorado Plateau
Wednesday, March 14th
9:00-9:15 Matt Van Scoyoc, USU Ecosystem Health Assessments on the Monticello Ranger District
9:15-9:30 Anne Brasher, BLM Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Vehicle Use in Salt Creek Watershed,Canyonlands National park
9:30-9:45 Tim Graham, Ant community structure in Salt Creek, Canyonlands National park, Utah: Changes at 4 sites in June Samples 2000-2007
9:45-10:00 Wright Robinson Grand County Biocontrol with the Tamarisk Beetle (Diorhabda carinulata):
abundance, movements, and impacts on tamarisk in Grand County, Utah, 2004–2011
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-10:30 Dana Witwicki NPS, Moab Long-term ecological monitoring to detect trends in northern
Colorado Plateau uplands
10:30-10:45 Miranda Redmond, CU-Boulder The influence of climate on annual variations in cone production among Pinyon Pine (Pinus edulis)
10:45-11:00 Heidi Guenther, CU-Boulder Fuels treatments effects on plant communities in upland pinyon-juniper woodlands
11:00-11:30 Nichole Barger and Mark Miller, CU-Boulder Group discussion: Facilitating knowledge exchange betweenscience and management
Just to back up my statement about Utahs Canyon Country being the "crust capitol", here's some photographic evidence. The crusts are the microcanyonlands within the macrocanyonlands (Photo: Dr. Charlie Schelz, National Park Service)
Oh hi, it's me, your prodigal blogger. Some news nuggets:
1. Some of our work, led by Fernando Maestre, is being highlighted in the Journal of Ecology Blog. We try to determine which is most important for ecosystem function: species richness, evenness, species composition, or spatial aggregation. The answer is richness and composition for the most part, and spatial pattern once in a while. Evenness has little effect in and of itself, but can have interactive effects with the other factors. It is another work derived from Andrea Castillo's constructed crust microcosms, mentioned in a previous post. Check out the Journal of Ecology blog here.
(Just in case you didn't know how interesting crusts are here's one of F's photos from the blog post)
I think this trend of scientific journals maintaining blogs is really cool. What better way to bring the science to the people for free! Not to mention demystifying it along the way. Right now i think Oikos is doing the best job (check them out in the blogroll), mostly because of one editor who is a frequent contributor. It looks like right now, the fledgling J. Ecology blog is mostly highlighting papers that they publish, and I guess we'll see how it evolves. It looks promising.
2. Bettina Weber & Jayne Belnap's proposal to ESA (August, Portland, Oregon) was accepted as an organized oral session rather than a symposium. So, "There will be crusts" (spoken in ominous voice) at ESA. I will post the lineup and that of the EGU meetings (April, Vienna, Austria) when I have them.
Situated at the atmosphere-soil boundary, biological soil crust (BSC) plays an important role in the ecology and microbiology of ecosystems. It plays an important role in C and N cycling and plant germination. But it also plays a seminal role in geomorphological processes such as eolian, hydrological, and pedological processes. BSC may effectively impede wind erosion or water flow. Yet, due to hydrophobic properties or extra cellular polysaccharides that act to clog the surface, the crust may also trigger runoff, which may result in nutrient and sediment translocation. The crust may also affect pedological processes either as a result of its organic matter content or due to microorganism-mineral interactions. Focusing on abiotic-biotic relations, this session will examine the abiotic variables responsible for crust establishment and will explore the crust properties and the crust effect on ecogeomorphological and pedological processes responsible for shaping our environment.
Dynamics of soil surface characteristics (including physical and biological soil crusts): consequences on soil functionning and role of climate and land use change
Conveners : O. Cerdan
Co-Conveners : O. Malam Issa, B. Marin, J.L. Rajot
At the interface between the atmosphere and the pedosphere, soil surface characteristics (SSC) have a strong impact on soil functioning. Soil surface characteristics are subjected to changes driven by several interactions between water, air and biotic and abiotic components under the controls of climate and human activity. Illustrative examples of such interactions are provided through crusts formation pattern in arid environments like Sahel where land overuses and drought lead to soil denudation, changes in vegetation pattern and development of physical and biological soil crusts in the plant interspaces. The characteristics and formation of these crusts influence the hydrological balance, control the mass of eroded sediment and influence plant productivity through the modification of nitrogen and carbon cycle. This session provides an opportunity to address recent developments in the comprehension of the environmental importance of soil surface characteristics. The session will focus on changes of soil surface structure due to climate and soil uses and its impact. We are expecting to gather observations from different climatic areas investigating the impact of soil surface characteristics dynamics at small and large temporal and spatial scales. The following questions will be addressed: How climate change and land uses change will affect soil surface characteristics and how this in turn will affect soil properties and functioning? How the structure and composition of communities living at soil surface affects ecosystem processes, functioning and stability of the environment? Contributions dealing with detection and mapping of the spatial distribution of soil surface characteristics are also particularly welcome.
