Cambridge Journals Online - Abstract - Algal stacks and fungal stacks as adaptations to high light in lichens

Cambridge Journals Online - Abstract - Algal stacks and fungal stacks as adaptations to high light in lichens

The earliest records of internally stratified cyanobacterial and algal lichens from the Lower Devonian of the Welsh Borderland Honegger 2012 New Phytologist Wiley Online Library

The earliest records of internally stratified cyanobacterial and algal lichens from the Lower Devonian of the Welsh Borderland Honegger 2012 New Phytologist Wiley Online Library

Random (or at least haphazard) photo dump

The benefit of never downloading your photos is that there are forgotten gems in there when you do get around to it. These shots are from a river trip in the Grand Canyon, in Fall 2011. I volunteered on a bighorn sheep research trip, and while looking for sheep feces I also made a ton of magnetic measurements of rocks and checked out the crust flora. Don't ask, these are just things I do in my spare time.

These are some shots from the vicinity of mile 30 or so, or crusts growing on soils derived from the redwall limestone in Marble Canyon.

Psora crenata. This species is not common on the Colorado Plateau, but really the canyon bottom is getting close to a hot desert climate. I also see lets of this near Sedona, AZ, on soils derived from the Supai formation, and in the verde valley, AZ, on the verde limestone.

 

Peltula sp. (maybe richardsii). I did not collect this, but it does look distinct from the teeny, mostly sterile Peltula patellata I am used to seeing in Colorado Plateau environments. The giant red apothecia were clearly visible from a standing position, and caught my eye from meters away. The squamules are notable smoother than patellata. There's also a tiny bright green Bryum moss clearly visible.

Saharan and Asian dust, biological particles end global journey in California

the more we learn about dust, the more we realize that it runs planet Earth



Saharan and Asian dust, biological particles end global journey in California

Garcia-Pichel lab is hiring a post-doc

Want to work in a "microbial nursery"? Check this out.

http://garcia-pichel.lab.asu.edu/research_opportunities.html

This position is part of a collaborative project  (Barger, Belnap, Garcia-Pichel, Bowker, Duniway, Reed) seeking to improve crust restoration technology, and apply it to military lands. Ferran needs someone with a blue-green thumb.

New moss book

Reviewed on Moss Plants & More

Want to learn the California mosses?

Crust workship abstract deadline extended again

Received by email a few days ago:

Dear colleague,

Just to let you know that the abstract submission period for the II International BSC workshop, which will take place in Madrid between 10 and 13 June 2013, has been extended until the end of January 2013. We have received more than 30 abstracts so far, and encourage you to submit yours to the meeting. Please pass this information to any colleague that
may be interested in attending.

All the updated information on the meeting can be found at its webpage:

https://sites.google.com/site/biocrust2013/home

We hope to see all of you in Madrid on next year!

With our Best Wishes for 2013,

Fernando T. Maestre
Leopoldo G. Sancho

Paper by Coe et al. recommended by Faculty of 1000

Faculty of 1000 is a panel of faculty members which recommends and ranks the best papers they have read in their fields, post-publication. It is sort of a post-publication peer review, and in addition to citation rates give an indication of the impact or quality a paper may have.

Scott Collins of University of New Mexico, a heavy hitter in dryland ecology specifically, and also the president of ESA has recommended Coe, K.K., Belnap, J., Sparks, J.P. 2012. Precipitation-driven carbon balance controls survivorship of desert biocrust mosses. Ecology 93: 1626-36. This is really a great honor for the authors, and I am really psyched to see my very first study subject, Syntrichia caninervis, making it big.

Check out my previous post about related work by some of the same authors here. Also CO2 Science summarizes another related work here.

Plate 1.  (Left) A moss-dominated soil biocrust from the Colorado Plateau in western North America, and (right) a single shoot (height 1 cm) of the widespread biocrust moss Syntrichia caninervis. Photo credits: left, K. K. Coe; right, Lloyd Stark.

View the recommendation here:

Collins S: F1000 Prime Recommendation of [Coe KK et al., Ecology 2012, 93(7):1626-36]. Faculty of 1000, 18 Oct 2012; DOI: 10.3410/f.717955503.793460788. f1000.com/prime/717955503#eval793460788

Roger Rosentreter talk, 2012 Restoring the West Conference, Utah State University

I ran across this on you tube...

Speak to me Lichen, How Stable is the Soil? Tell me its Disturbance History. Roger Rosentreter, State Botanist, BLM Idaho. Recorded talk from 2012 Restoring the West Conference at Utah State University. The conference focused on balancing energy development and biodiversity. By Utah State University Extension Forestry. www.restoringthewest.org

Musgos: Syntrichia caninervis

Nice website in Spanish on the mosses of the Iberian peninsula. Just added it to the resources list.

Musgos: Syntrichia caninervis: Familia: Pottiaceae Como mucho llega a 1.5cm, crece en céspedes más o menos extensos. Hojas patentes en húmedo retorcidos en seco, de ...