Co-development of biological soil crusts, soil-geomorphology, and landscape biogeochemistry in the Mojave Desert, Nevada, U.S.A. – Implications for ecological management
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are complex matrices of soil particles, mosses, lichens, and cyanobacteria that prevent erosion and influence water and energy balances, soil fertility, and vascular plant germination. The processes that form BSCs, the factors that control their distribution, and the ecosystem feedbacks that they sustain are poorly understood. This dissertation employed a novel interdisciplinary approach to address those research unknowns through investigations of the micromorphological structure, soil-geomorphic relationships, and biogeochemical feedbacks of BSCs in the Mojave Desert. A micromorphological study of BSCs resulted in a succession model that illustrates how crust formative processes and structures change through time. Tall moss-lichen pinnacled crusts actively capture dust, precipitate authigenic minerals, experience alternating expansion-contraction from wet-dry cycles, and form a surface seal that together with dust capture produces Av horizons. The resulting unique bio-sedimentary structures control ecological function and further promote BSC growth. This is the first study to demonstrate a biological process leading to the formation of Av horizons and suggests that BSCs are previously under-recognized critical agents of arid pedogenesis and landscape development. From a soil-geomorphic study of BSCs a model was developed wherein the ratio of fine sand to rocks controls the relative distribution of three surface cover types - cyanobacteria crusts, moss-lichen crusts, and desert pavements with low to moderate moss-lichen cover. The biological and geological feedbacks that sustain these cover types vary predictably across intermontane basins, yielding new insights for land management. Moreover, the physical processes that control BSCs are common to most deserts, making these results applicable worldwide. An ecological study of BSCs resulted in a conceptual model wherein the sand-to rock-ratio, which constrains interspace cover by BSCs and desert pavements, ultimately determines the magnitude of the fertile island effect. Inferred biological-geological feedbacks produce three unique biogeochemical patterns that vary predictably across the landscape. These surface cover patterns are consistent within many deserts, potentially reflecting overarching controls of resource allocation that operate despite differences in total site productivity.
DOI: 10.34917/2396460
Author: Williams, Amanda Jean
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W200215228