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Maximizing establishment and survivorship of field-collected and greenhouse-cultivated biocrusts in a semi-cold desert

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Abstract

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.

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Abbreviations

LOD:

Level of biocrust development

UTTR:

Utah Test and Training Range

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (Grant number RC- 2329; Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency). We also gratefully acknowledge facilitation of field site permitting and access at the Utah Test and Training Site by Russell Lawrence. We appreciate the help with field collections, greenhouse cultivation, preparation and field data collection by Akasha Faist, Dustin Kebble, Channing Laturno and Brook Stamper. We are also grateful for additional review provided by Akasha Faist, Kara Gibson and two anonymous reviewers that greatly improved the manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 200 E. Pine Knoll Dr., P.O. Box 15018, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA

    Anita Antoninka, Matthew A. Bowker & Peter Chuckran

  2. United States Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, 2290 S. West Resource Blvd, Moab, UT, 84532, USA

    Matthew A. Bowker, Sasha Reed & Jayne Belnap

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Campus Box 334, Boulder, CO, 80305-0334, USA

    Nichole N. Barger

Authors
  1. Anita Antoninka
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  2. Matthew A. Bowker
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  3. Peter Chuckran
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  4. Nichole N. Barger
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  5. Sasha Reed
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  6. Jayne Belnap
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anita Antoninka.

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Responsible Editor: Jayne Belnap.

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Antoninka, A., Bowker, M.A., Chuckran, P. et al. Maximizing establishment and survivorship of field-collected and greenhouse-cultivated biocrusts in a semi-cold desert. Plant Soil 429, 213–225 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3300-3

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