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Biological Soil Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands pp 3–13Cite as

Biological Soil Crusts as an Organizing Principle in Drylands

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Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 226))

Abstract

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) have been present on Earth’s terrestrial surfaces for billions of years. They are a critical part of ecosystem processes in dryland regions, as they cover most of the soil surface and thus mediate almost all inputs and outputs from soils in these areas. There are many intriguing, but understudied, roles these communities may play in drylands. These include their function in nutrient capture and transformation, influence on the movement and distribution of nutrients and water within dryland soils, ability to structure vascular plant communities, role in creating biodiversity hotspots, and the possibility that they can be used as indicators of soil health. There are still many fascinating aspects of these communities that need study, and we hope that this chapter will facilitate such efforts.

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Acknowledgments

JB thanks the US Geological Survey’s Ecosystems program for support. BW gratefully acknowledges support by the Max Planck Society (Nobel Laureate Fellowship) and the German Research Foundation (projects WE2393/2-1 and WE2393/2-2). BB acknowledges grants (BU666/11 to 19) by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, 2290 S. West Resource Blvd, Moab, UT, 84532, USA

    Jayne Belnap

  2. Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128, Mainz, Germany

    Bettina Weber

  3. Plant Ecology and Systematics, Department of Biology, University of Kaiserslautern, 3049, D-67653, Kaiserslautern, Germany

    Burkhard Büdel

Authors
  1. Jayne Belnap
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  2. Bettina Weber
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  3. Burkhard Büdel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jayne Belnap .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Multiphase Chemistry Department, Max Plank Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany

    Bettina Weber

  2. Plant Ecology and Systematics, Department of Biology, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany

    Burkhard Büdel

  3. Southwest Biological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, Utah, USA

    Jayne Belnap

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Belnap, J., Weber, B., Büdel, B. (2016). Biological Soil Crusts as an Organizing Principle in Drylands. In: Weber, B., Büdel, B., Belnap, J. (eds) Biological Soil Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands. Ecological Studies, vol 226. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30214-0_1

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