Plant recovery techniques do not ensure biological soil‐crust recovery after gypsum quarrying: a call for active restoration

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a key component of dryland ecosystems worldwide. However, large extensions of biocrusts are disturbed by human activities, gypsum quarry being an outstanding example. Restoration techniques applied have offered satisfactory results for vascular plants but they could greatly differ in promoting biocrust recovery. A basic question remains unaddressed: can measures for plant recovery accelerate or promote the recovery of biological crusts? We have examined eight different situations: undisturbed natural habitat, five treatments with no restoration measures (overgrazed area, abandoned quarry, topsoil removal from natural habitat, and two areas filled with gypsum mining spoil), and 2 areas receiving restoration measures (manual sowing and hydroseeding). We took 40 soil cores to determine cover of lichen, moss, and cyanobacteria. Biocrust richness and cover were higher in the undisturbed habitat, with remarkable differences for the different components among treatments. Cyanobacteria were well represented in all the cores (restored and non‐restored). Mosses were promoted the most by hydroseeding. Lichen cover was remarkably higher in undisturbed samples, very low in the quarry abandoned in 1992, and 0 in the rest. Complete spontaneous recovery of biocrusts was inefficient in the 25‐year period examined. Plant restoration measures could speed up its recovery comparing with non‐restored areas. Cyanobacteria and mosses can spontaneously recover fairly well. However, promoting them would accelerate the appearance of lichen. For lichen, inoculation or translocation of lichen thalli might be proposed. Therefore, our results call for the inclusion of active restoration measures of biocrust components in recovery plans, especially for lichens.     

Practices of biological soil crust rehabilitation in China: experiences and challenges

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a central component of dryland ecosystems. However, they are highly vulnerable to disturbance and natural recovery may be slow. Therefore, finding ways to enhance the reestablishment of biocrusts after disturbance has been of great interest to researchers. This article provides a review of the laboratory cultivation and field inoculations of biocrust materials in China (mostly published in Chinese). Larger filamentous cyanobacteria (e.g. Microcoleus) are relatively easy, although slow, to grow in culture compared to other biocrust components. Thus, most researchers have focused their efforts on the cyanobacteria and a few species of mosses that are also easily grown but at smaller scale. For all the studies, a small amount of biocrust material was collected and its biomass enhanced under controlled conditions. However, the enhancement was done using various methods and techniques in different regions. These materials were then applied to disturbed field sites, again with various methods. Results show that keeping the inoculated soil surface wet for some time period after inoculation was crucial for restoration success. Cyanobacterial establishment was improved by installing automatic sprinkling using micro‐irrigation techniques and/or physical structures that reduced sediment moving onto the inoculated area. Experimental applications in China showed that cyanobacteria can be successfully inoculated at a large scale (hundreds of ha). Moss inoculation, on the other hand, was only accomplished at a small scale (several m²). To assess whether biocrust restoration can enhance the establishment of a self‐supporting ecosystem, further research is needed on how inoculation affects vegetation diversity and structure and ecological processes.     

Effect of storage time on the physiological characteristics and vegetative regeneration of desiccation‐tolerant mosses on the Loess Plateau,China

The artificial cultivation of moss biocrusts can accelerate the recovery of degraded arid lands and is closely related to moss productivity. Understanding the properties of inoculation materials on the regenerative capacity of mosses, in particular the effect of time limits on storage, has the potential to benefit the cultivation of artificial moss biocrusts. We investigated the vegetative regeneration and physiological characteristics of three desiccation‐tolerant mosses (Barbula unguiculata, Didymodon vinealis, and Didymodon tectorum) upon rehydration after periods of desiccation storage for 40, 89, 127, and 197 days. Regenerative capacity, represented by gametophyte vigor index, decreased with increased storage time. The greatest change in vegetative regeneration among storage times was observed in B. unguiculata, where the gametophyte vigor index decreased by 95.74% after 197 days of storage. Over the same period, there were smaller decreases in gametophyte vigor index of D. vinealis and D. tectorum of 42.17% and 13.30%, respectively. Malondialdehyde and soluble sugar increased with longer periods of storage time, while soluble protein content first increased, then decreased. Oxidation levels are important factors influencing the recovery of desiccation‐tolerant mosses. All three moss species regenerated after 197 days of storage, but regenerative capacity is dependent on species. For land managers, biocrust restoration can be facilitated by careful screening of suitable moss species, based on their capacity to regenerate new growth after extended periods of storage and selection of species based on variations in physiological characteristics.     

Strategies for restoring the structure and function of lichen‐moss biocrust communities

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are crucial components of dryland ecosystems, but they are slow to recover following disturbance. Herein, we evaluated several methods for restoring lichen‐moss biocrusts that included factorial applications of moss fragments in a water‐slurry (1) with and without lichen fragments (to restore biocrust taxonomic structure), (2) with and without clay (to facilitate establishment), and (3) with and without jute ground cloth (to facilitate establishment). Three and four years after inoculation, moss and lichen cover was up to five and eight times higher on jute ground cloth than on bare ground, respectively. Lichen cover was six times higher in plots where lichen fragments were added. Clay amendments did not increase moss or lichen establishment. To understand the effects of biocrust recovery on soil properties, we measured soil inorganic nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon, and soil water availability in restoration and control plots. Restored biocrusts decreased inorganic NH₄‐N availability by 67% when compared to controls 3 years after inoculation, but did not influence the availability of inorganic NO₃‐N, soil water, or microbial biomass carbon. Our results demonstrate that adding a biocrust inoculant to jute ground cloth can expedite recovery of lichen‐moss biocrust and reestablish its influence on soil properties within a few years.     

Biological soil crusts in ecological restoration: emerging research and perspectives

Drylands encompass over 40% of terrestrial ecosystems and face significant anthropogenic degradation causing a loss of ecosystem integrity, services, and deterioration of social‐ecological systems. To combat this degradation, some dryland restoration efforts have focused on the use of biological soil crusts (biocrusts): complex communities of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes, and other organisms living in association with the top millimeters of soil. Biocrusts are common in many ecosystems and especially drylands. They perform a suite of ecosystem functions: stabilizing soil surfaces to prevent erosion, contributing carbon through photosynthesis, fixing nitrogen, and mediating the hydrological cycle in drylands. Biocrusts have emerged as a potential tool in restoration; developing methods to implement effective biocrust restoration has the potential to return many ecosystem functions and services. Although culture‐based approaches have allowed researchers to learn about the biology, physiology, and cultivation of biocrusts, transferring this knowledge to field implementation has been more challenging. A large amount of research has amassed to improve our understanding of biocrust restoration, leaving us at an opportune time to learn from one another and to join approaches for maximum efficacy. The articles in this special issue improve the state of our current knowledge in biocrust restoration, highlighting efforts to effectively restore biocrusts through a variety of different ecosystems, across scales and utilizing a variety of lab and field methods. This collective work provides a useful resource for the scientific community as well as land managers.     

Trade-off between C and N recycling and N<Subscript>2</Subscript>O emissions of soils with summer cover crops in subtropical agrosystems

Aims

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are soil-surface communities in drylands, dominated by cyanobacteria, mosses, and lichens. They provide key ecosystem functions by increasing soil stability and influencing soil hydrologic, nutrient, and carbon cycles. Because of this, methods to reestablish biocrusts in damaged drylands are needed. Here we test the reintroduction of field-collected vs. greenhouse-cultured biocrusts for rehabilitation.

Methods

We collected biocrusts for 1) direct reapplication, and 2) artificial cultivation under varying hydration regimes. We added field-collected and cultivated biocrusts (with and without hardening treatments) to bare field plots and monitored establishment.

Results

Both field-collected and cultivated cyanobacteria increased cover dramatically during the experimental period. Cultivated biocrusts established more rapidly than field-collected biocrusts, attaining ~82% cover in only one year, but addition of field-collected biocrusts led to higher species richness, biomass (as assessed by chlorophyll a) and level of development. Mosses and lichens did not establish well in either case, but late successional cover was affected by hardening and culture conditions.

Conclusions

This study provides further evidence that it is possible to culture biocrust components from later successional materials and reestablish cultured organisms in the field. However, more research is needed into effective reclamation techniques.

     

Biological soil crust salvage for dryland restoration: an opportunity for natural resource restoration

Biocrusts' functional importance and vulnerability to disturbance have motivated consistent interest in biocrust restoration, as well as a recent increase in research to cultivate biocrusts in laboratory and greenhouse settings for use in ecological restoration. As part of a sustainable approach to developing biocrust restoration, we argue that a complementary step is to improve and accelerate methods for salvaging biocrusts that would otherwise be destroyed in a forthcoming disturbance. The increasing rate and scale of disturbance pressures in drylands where biocrusts flourish means that the supply of salvageable biocrust and demand for that material in restoration greatly exceed the present cultivable supply. In this article we describe the state of knowledge for biocrust salvage, present a simple set of steps for conducting a salvage harvest, discuss risks and benefits when considering using salvage, and suggest future research directions to facilitate scaling up biocrust restoration using salvaged material. A focus on the use of salvaged biocrust as a restoration source may prove an important step to improve ecological restoration in notoriously difficult to restore dryland ecosystems.     

Addressing barriers to improve biocrust colonization and establishment in dryland restoration

Methods to reduce soil loss and associated loss of ecosystem functions due to land degradation are of particular importance in dryland ecosystems. Biocrusts are communities of cyanobacteria, lichens, and bryophytes that are vulnerable to soil disturbance, but provide vital ecosystem functions when present. Biocrusts stabilize soil, improve hydrologic function, and increase nutrient and carbon inputs. Methods to reestablish biocrust rapidly, when lost from ecosystems, have the potential to restore important dryland ecosystem functions and thereby increase probability of successful rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to identify habitat ameliorations to enhance the success of biocrust inoculation by: (1) reducing physiological stress on biocrusts and increasing resource availability (using shade, soil surface roughening, and watering), and (2) stabilizing mobile soils (using straw borders, three soil tackifiers [soil stabilizers], and a combination of shade, water, roughening, and tackifier). In the Great Basin Desert on the Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City, we applied field‐harvested biocrust material to experimental plots on coarse‐ and fine‐textured soils with the top 2 cm of soil and biocrust removed. Habitat ameliorations were applied with and without biocrust addition. Shade provision increased biocrust cover 50% over controls. Biocrust cover and soil stability were 65% lower in straw border plots relative to controls. Soil tackifiers, alone and in combination with resource augmentation and stress reduction, did not improve cover and stabilization over inoculated controls. We found variability in recovery by time and between soil types. These results suggest plausible strategies to improve success of biocrust inoculation.     

Revegetation modifies patterns of temporal soil respiration responses to extreme-drying-and-rewetting in a semiarid ecosystem

Aims

The artificial cultivation of biocrusts may represent a new low-cost and highly efficient solution to erosion control. However, establishment under varying field environmental conditions is understudied. We tested a variety of methods, arriving at a set of technical recommendations for rapid establishment of moss biocrusts on disturbed slopes, and the industrialization of this process.

Methods

In multiple field experiments, aimed at moss biocrust cultivation and establishment, we considered the following factors: nutrient solutions (control and weekly addition); water-retaining agent (control and addition); plant growth regulator (control and biweekly addition); shading (0, 50%, 70% and 90%); dispersal method (broadcast and spray application). In all cases, we initially inoculated soils with 700 g/m² of moss biocrust materials. We monitored dynamic changes of the coverage and density of moss biocrusts during the cultivation period, and their biomass at the end.

Results

We successfully cultured moss biocrusts in a field setting in as little as two months. Specifically, we found:(1) Regardless of the dispersal method, the nutrient solutions and some degree of shading both increased the coverage, plant density and biomass of moss biocrusts, whereas the water-retaining agent and plant growth regulator had little influence on these parameters. The shading treatments improved the survival rates of moss biocrusts, with the shade rating of 70% exhibiting the best performance. Further, the nutrient solutions had a more positive effect under shaded conditions. (2) The growth of mosses dispersed in the fall exceeded that of mosses dispersed in the summer. (3) Under both dispersal techniques, the maximal coverage of the moss biocrusts exceeded 90%, and the maximal plant density of moss biocrusts reached 120 stems/cm²under broadcast dispersal, and 150 stems/cm², under spray dispersal.

Conclusions

The rapid restoration of moss biocrusts can best be achieved by spray-dispersal or broadcast-dispersal, while also applying Hoagland solution to supply nutrients and maintaining soil moisture at 15–25%. Fall inoculation appears more likely to lead to better moss establishment, in fact, high moss mortality occurred in summer unless shading was used. We have some evidence, observational in fall, and experimental in summer, that moderate shading favors establishment. This technique could feasibly be up scaled and adopted to restore some ecological functions on various types of engineered disturbed surfaces. Over a longer period, the survivorship, succession and sustainability of artificial moss biocrusts should be explored specifically.

     

Unexpected side effects in biocrust after treating non‐native plants using carbon addition

Carbon addition has been proposed as an alternative to herbicide and manual removal methods to treat non‐native plants and reduce non‐target effects of treatments (e.g. impacts on native plants; surface disturbance). On Mojave Desert pavement and biocrust substrates after experimental soil disturbance and carbon addition (1,263 g C/m² as sucrose), we observed declines in lichens and moss cover in sucrose‐treated plots. To further explore this unforeseen potential side effect of using carbon addition as a non‐native plant treatment, we conducted biocrust surveys 5 and 7 years after treatments, sampled surface soils to observe if treatments additionally affected soil filamentous cyanobacteria, and conducted laboratory trials testing the effects of different levels of sucrose on cyanobacteria and desert mosses. Sucrose addition to biocrust plots reduced lichen and moss cover by 33–78% and species richness by 40–80%. Sucrose reduced biocrust cover in biocrust plots to levels similarly detected in pavement plots (<1%). While cyanobacteria in the field did not appear to be affected by sucrose, laboratory tests showed negative effects of sucrose on both cyanobacteria and mosses. Cyanobacteria declined by 41% 1 month after exposure to 5.4 g C/m² equivalent solutions. We detected injury to photosynthesis in mosses after 96 hour exposure to 79–316 g C/m² equivalent solutions. Caution is warranted when using carbon addition, at least in the form and concentration of sucrose, as a treatment for reducing non‐native plants on sites where conserving biocrust is a goal.     

黄土丘陵区生物结皮群落组成与水分入渗的关系

黄土丘陵区坡面尺度生物结皮多是由藻、藓和地衣等以不同比例、不同方式组合的一个复杂群落结构,显著影响水分入渗,但目前混合生物结皮水分入渗与其群落结构之间的关系仍不清楚,妨碍了对坡面尺度生物结皮土壤渗透性的评估。本研究测定了藻结皮、藓结皮及藓结皮盖度分别为<15%、15%～30%、30%～45%、45%～60%、＞60% 5个不同藻藓比例的混合生物结皮的稳定入渗速率,采用主成分分析和通径分析揭示混合生物结皮水分稳定入渗速率的影响因素,明确混合生物结皮水分稳定入渗速率与群落结构之间的关系。结果表明: 藻结皮和藓结皮土壤饱和导水率分别为0.66和2.40 mm·min^-1。藓结皮盖度从<15%到>60%的混合生物结皮的稳定入渗速率为0.80～2.30 mm·min^-1。混合生物结皮水分稳定入渗速率主要与藓结皮盖度和藓结皮改善的土壤孔隙结构密切相关,相关系数分别为0.636(P=0.011)和0.835(P=0.000)。通过藻结皮和藓结皮土壤饱和导水率与盖度加权预测的混合生物结皮水分入渗量(y)与混合生物结皮实测水分入渗量(x)具有极显著相关关系(r=0.945),二者拟合的线性函数为y=0.85x(R²=0.98,P<0.05)。本研究明确了混合生物结皮水分入渗与单一组成生物结皮水分入渗之间的关系,为准确评估该区生物结皮水文过程提供了科学依据。     

Microsite enhancements for soil stabilization and rapid biocrust colonization in degraded drylands

In dryland ecosystems, natural recovery of biological soil crusts (biocrusts) following disturbance may be slow or inhibited, necessitating active restoration practices. While biocrusts can be readily propagated under environmentally controlled conditions, rehabilitation in the field is complicated by environmental stresses which may be particularly acute in degraded, destabilized soils with harsh climatic conditions at the soil surface. In this study, we first present the results of a field trial at a severely degraded rangeland site examining the stabilizing effects of various soil amendments (polysaccharide glues and polyacrylamides) in combination with biocrust inoculum. We found that a psyllium compound was the only amendment to maintain effectiveness after 19 months, and the only treatment that maintained biocrust inoculum throughout the trial. In a subsequent short‐term experiment where plots were shaded and watered, we examined how biocrust inoculation rate (0, 20, and 40% initial cover) and the psyllium‐based amendment affected biocrust growth. After 4 months, visible biocrust cover in inoculated plots was greater than in controls, but only chlorophyll a exhibited a dosage‐response to inoculum application rate, indicating preferential establishment of cyanobacteria. Psyllium did not affect biocrust development but did improve soil stability. Shade and watering buffered against temperature extremes (up to 15°C) and increased the duration of moist surface conditions necessary for biocrust growth by up to 30%, mimicking conditions more common in the fall and winter months. Our results suggest that inducing early successional biocrusts on a highly degraded site is possible with suitable microclimate conditions.     

黄土丘陵区草本植物覆盖下生物结皮对坡面径流流速的削减作用

生物结皮是干旱半干旱地区的常见地被物,与植物共同影响坡面径流及流速。迄今鲜有研究关注植物和生物结皮共同覆盖对流速的影响,是干旱半干旱地区坡面侵蚀驱动因素研究的薄弱环节。本研究以黄土丘陵区退耕草地为对象,通过野外模拟降雨试验,研究草本植物覆盖下有无生物结皮及不同组成生物结皮(多藻少藓、多藓少藻和藓)对径流流速的影响。结果表明: 植物和植物+生物结皮覆盖显著降低了流速,植物覆盖较裸土降低70.7%,植物+生物结皮覆盖较裸土降低83.1%;植物和生物结皮共同覆盖下,植物和生物结皮对径流流速的削减效益分别为70.7%和12.4%。植物覆盖下生物结皮对流速的影响程度与其组成有关,多藻少藓结皮、多藓少藻结皮和藓结皮对流速的削减效益分别为11.5%、12.4%和19.4%。流速与藓盖度呈显著负相关,与藻盖度呈显著正相关,藓结皮盖度(x)与流速(y)的关系式为:y=-2.081x+0.03(R²=0.469)。当植物盖度一定时(40%±10%),生物结皮组成中藓盖度是影响共同覆盖坡面流速的关键因子。综上,草本植物覆盖下生物结皮有显著减缓流速的作用,且作用程度与其组成有关。表明在研究退耕草地坡面侵蚀动力机制时,生物结皮的作用应予以考虑。     

Physiological ecology of desert biocrust moss following 10 years exposure to elevated CO₂: evidence for enhanced photosynthetic thermotolerance

In arid regions, biomes particularly responsive to climate change, mosses play an important biogeochemical role as key components of biocrusts. Using the biocrust moss Syntrichia caninervis collected from the Nevada Desert Free Air CO₂ Enrichment Facility, we examined the physiological effects of 10 years of exposure to elevated CO₂, and the effect of high temperature events on the photosynthetic performance of moss grown in CO₂‐enriched air. Moss exposed to elevated CO₂ exhibited a 46% decrease in chlorophyll, a 20% increase in carbon and no difference in either nitrogen content or photosynthetic performance. However, when subjected to high temperatures (35–40°C), mosses from the elevated CO₂ environment showed higher photosynthetic performance and photosystem II (PSII) efficiency compared to those grown in ambient conditions, potentially reflective of a shift in nitrogen allocation to components that offer a higher resistance of PSII to heat stress. This result suggests that mosses may respond to climate change in markedly different ways than vascular plants, and observed CO₂‐induced photosynthetic thermotolerance in S. caninervis will likely have consequences for future desert biogeochemistry.     

Hydroseeding tackifiers and dryland moss restoration potential

Tackifiers are long‐chain carbon compounds used for soil stabilization and hydroseeding and could provide a vehicle for biological soil crust restoration. We examined the sensitivity of two dryland mosses, Bryum argenteum and Syntrichia ruralis, to three common tackifiers—guar, psyllium, and polyacrylamide (PAM)—at 0.5×, 1.0×, and 2.0× of recommended (×) concentrations for erosion control and revegetation. We measured moss shoot, gemma, and protonema production as well as moss organic matter and bound sand masses as indicators of growth and soil holding ability. We tested sand and tackifier chemistry to investigate potential nutrient and toxicant potential on moss growth. Groups of 10 fragments from field‐collected mosses were grown on sand in open petri dishes arranged in a growth chamber in replicated blocks containing each tackifier and concentration combination plus a distilled water control. Bryum (n = 10) and Syntrichia (n = 9) growth were measured at the end of 6 and 5 weeks, respectively. Overall model tests yielded statistically significant results (p < 0.001) for every variable in each species. When compared to water, guar tended to decrease growth, psyllium tended to increase growth, and PAM's effects were generally neutral to positive. Within tackifier types, increasing concentrations of guar tended to decrease growth, while increasing concentrations of psyllium tended to increase growth. Changes in PAM concentrations had little effect on growth. Increases in guar and psyllium lowered pH and increased P and K. Psyllium and PAM yielded promising results as potential agents of dispersal and adherence of dryland mosses in field restoration.     

Microbial inoculum production for biocrust restoration: testing the effects of a common substrate versus native soils on yield and community composition

Human activities are causing unprecedented disturbances in terrestrial ecosystems across the globe. To reverse soil deterioration in drylands, a promising tool is the ex situ cultivation of biological soil crusts, topsoil geobiological assemblages that provide key ecosystem services. One approach is to transplant biocrusts cultivated in greenhouse nursery facilities into degraded sites to accelerate recovery. Lichen‐ and moss‐dominated biocrusts have been successfully grown using a common, sandy soil. We compared the use of a common, sandy soil versus native soils as a substrate for the cultivation of cyanobacteria‐dominated biocrusts. In greenhouse experiments, we inoculated natural biocrusts collected from three Southwestern USA dryland sites on to either a common, sandy soil or on their respective native soils. The common substrate resulted in a moderate enhancement of growth yield relative to native soils. While changes in bacterial phyla composition remained low in all cases, the use of a common substrate introduced larger shifts in cyanobacterial community composition than did using native soils. The shift increase attributable to the common, sandy soil was not catastrophic—and typical cyanobacteria of field biocrusts remained dominant—unless textural differences between the common substrate and native soils were marked. Because collecting native soils adds a significant effort to growing cyanobacterial biocrusts in greenhouses for restoration purposes, the use of a common, sandy substrate may be considered by land managers as a standard practice. But we recommend to regularly monitor the composition of the grown biomass.     

Cyanobacterial persistence and influence on microbial community dynamics over 15 years in induced biocrusts

Biocrusts provide numerous ecological functions in drylands. Recovering biocrusts via cyanobacterial inoculation recently gathered interest for ecological restoration, yet it still lacks long-term experiments to unravel biocrust community dynamics. To examine how cyanobacterial inoculants influenced local microbial community and biocrust development, we observed a 2 km² (Qubqi Desert, China) inoculation experiment after 10 and 15 years, following biocrust formation. Our results revealed that biocrust development was in line with ecological regime shift, providing evidence for biocrust community succession, from cyanobacteria- to moss-dominated types. Associated with biocrust development, microbial communities differed significantly with less specialists compared to shifting sands. Cyanobacterial community analysis showed that Microcoleus vaginatus and Scytonema javanicum are an ideal inoculating model, as they were still dominating the community after 15 years since inoculation, while other nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria occurred profusely with biocrust development. Biocrust community composition combined with thickness, Chl-a and exopolysaccharide measurements revealed the large variation of cyanobacterial ecological functions along biocrust development, suggesting a main function shift: from carbon fixation associated with exopolysaccharide secretion in bare sandy soils to nitrogen fixation in developed biocrusts. This large-scale field study verifies that cyanobacterial inoculation accelerates biocrust development and forwards succession, shaping the biocrust community composition over a long time.     

斑块面积对干燥-复水条件下藓类植物生理活性的影响

干扰会导致生物结皮斑块破碎并退化。为明确生物结皮斑块破碎诱发生物结皮退化机理,以黄土丘陵区土生对齿藓(Didymodon vinealis)结皮为研究对象,研究了干燥-复水条件下,单株和直径1 cm、2 cm、3 cm、4 cm、5 cm的藓结皮斑块内土生对齿藓的干燥速率、渗透调节物质、丙二醛和光合色素含量等的变化,以期揭示干扰后生物结皮退化的生物学机理。结果表明(1)除单株外,干燥速率随斑块面积减小而增加,直径1 cm斑块内藓的干燥速率是直径5 cm的2倍。(2)反复干燥-复水25天后,直径小于5 cm的斑块内藓的可溶性糖、可溶性蛋白和叶绿素含量低于直径5 cm斑块内藓的含量,丙二醛含量随斑块面积变化无明显规律。(3)干燥速率与斑块面积、可溶性糖、可溶性蛋白及叶绿素含量均呈极显著负相关。以上结果表明,藓结皮斑块面积通过影响斑块内藓类植物干燥速率进而影响其渗透调节和光合作用能力。藓结皮斑块面积减小,藓类植物干燥速率增大,生理活性降低,是藓结皮斑块破碎诱发其退化的原因。研究从藓类植物生理的角度,阐明了干扰后藓类植物衰亡的生理学原因,为生物结皮的保护和管理提供了科学依据。     

Response of feather moss associated N2 fixation and litter decomposition to variations in simulated rainfall intensity and frequency

Feather mosses in boreal forests form a dense ground‐cover that is an important driver of both nutrient and carbon cycling. While moss growth is highly sensitive to moisture availability, little is known about how moss effects on nutrient and carbon cycling are affected by the dynamics of moisture input to the ecosystem. We experimentally investigated how rainfall regimes affected ecosystem processes driven by the dominant boreal feather moss Pleurozium schreberi by manipulating total moisture amount, frequency of moisture addition and moss presence/absence. Moisture treatments represented the range of rainfall conditions that occur in Swedish boreal forests as well as shifts in rainfall expected through climate change. We found that nitrogen (N) fixation by cyanobacteria in feather mosses (the main biological N input to boreal forests) was strongly influenced by both moisture amount and frequency, and their interaction; increased frequency had greater effects when amounts were higher. Within a given moisture amount, N fixation varied up to seven‐fold depending on how that amount was distributed temporally. We also found that mosses promoted vascular litter decomposition rates, concentrations of litter nutrients, and active soil microbial biomass, and reduced N release into soil solution. These effects were usually strongest under low moisture amount and/or frequency, and revealed a buffering effect of mosses on the decomposer subsystem under moisture limitation. These results highlight that both the amount and temporal distribution of rainfall, determine the effect of feather mosses on ecosystem N input and the decomposer subsystem. They also emphasize the role of feather mosses in mediating moisture effects on decomposer processes. Finally, our results suggest that projected shifts in precipitation in the Swedish boreal forest through climate change will result in increased moss growth and N₂ fixation but a reduced dependency of the decomposer subsystem on feather moss cover for moisture retention.     

Effect of preconditioning to the soil environment on the performance of 20 cyanobacterial strains used as inoculum for biocrust restoration

Biological soil crusts are complex communities of organisms that develop on the top layer of dryland soils where they enhance important ecosystem services, including soil fertility and protection from erosion. Regrettably, a range of human activities such as cattle grazing, off‐road driving, hiking, and global warming result in significant deterioration of biocrust cover and their associated services. This scenario has prompted efforts to develop effective biocrust restoration strategies, which often involve the production of biocrust inoculum, both in greenhouse and in laboratory settings. Sometimes this inoculum is preconditioned in a process of “hardening” at considerable expense and effort in order to improve its fitness under harsh field conditions. But the positive effects of such hardening procedures have yet to be rigorously demonstrated. Here, we compared the growth performance of 20 cultured strains of biocrust cyanobacteria in outdoor tests on native soils as a function of preconditioning regimes consisting of increasingly high exposure to solar radiation, temperature and illumination daily variability, and recurrent wet‐dry cycles. Preconditioning improved performance in 13 out of 20 strains, particularly among pioneer crust‐forming Microcoleus spp. (eight out of eight). Improvements were variable among heterocystous strains (three out of four Scytonema spp., two out of four Tolypothrix spp., and none out of four Nostoc spp.). Based on these results, we recommend the inclusion of preconditioning treatments to increase inoculum survival rate and speed of cyanobacterial biocrust recovery in restoration of dryland soils.