Ecological Function of Biological Soil Crusts

Abstract

Abstract: Biological soil crust exists in desertification-prone areas.This paper focuses on ecological function of biological soil crust,including water relations,soil stabilization,carbon and nitrogen fixation,albedo and effects on vascular plants.Some preliminary suggestions are given for further understanding the relationship between biological soil crust and revegetation of degraded ecosystem in desertification-prone areas in Northwestern China.

Key words: Aloe barbadensis, entophytic fungus, plant pathogenic fungi, inhibition range, antagonism mechanism.

CLC Number:

Q945.11

Wu Yuhuan, Gao Chien, Cheng Guodong. Ecological Function of Biological Soil Crusts[J]. cje, 2002, (4): 41-45.

References

[1] 王世冬,白学良,雍世鹏.沙坡头地区苔藓植物区系初步研究[J].中国沙漠,2001,21(3):244～249.
[2] Alexander,R.W.and Calvo,A.The influence of lichens on slope processes in some Spanish badlands[A].In:Thornes,J.B.(ed).Vegetation and Erosion[C].Chichester:John Wiley & Sons,Ltd.,1990.385～398.
[3] Anderson,D.C.et al.Factors influencing development of cryptogamic crusts in Utah deserts[J].J.Range.Manage.,1982,35(2):180～185.
[4] Belnap,J.et al.Surface disturbance of cryptobiotic soil crusts:nitrogenase activity,chlorophyll content,and chlorophyll degradation[J].Arid Soil Res.Reh.,1994,8(1):1～8.
[5] Belnap,J.and Harper,K.T.Influence of cryptobiotic soil crusts on elemental content of tissue texture in two desert seed plants[J].Arid Soil Res.Reh.,1995,9(1):107～115.
[6] Belnap,J.and Gardner,J.S.Soil microstructure of the Colorado plateau:the role of the cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus[J].Great Basin Nat.,1993,53(1):40～47.
[7] Belnap,J.Potential role of cryptobiotic soil crust in semiarid rangelands[A].In:Monsen,S.B.(eds).Proceedings-Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands[R].Ogdan:USDA Forest Service,International Research Station,1994.175～185.
[8] Belmar,J.Recovery rates of cryptobiotic soil crusts:assessment of artificial inoculant and methods of evaluation[J].Great Basin Nat.,1993,53(1):89～95.
[9] Belnap,J.Soil surfacee disturbances in cold deserts:effects on nitrogenase activity in cyanobacterial-lichen soil crusts[J].Biol.Fertil.Soil,1996,23(3):362～367.
[10] Belnap,J.Surface disturbances:their role in accelerating desertification[J].Environ.Monit.Assess.,1995,37(1):39～57.
[11] Belnap,J.et al.N leakage in cyanobacterrial-lichen soil crusts[J].Ecol.Bull.,1997,78:250.
[12] Belnap,J.and Gillette,D.A.Disturbance of biological soil crusts:impacts on potential wind erodibility of sandy desert soils in southeastern Utah,USA[J].Land Degrad.Develop.,1997,8(2):355～362.
[13] Belnap,J.and Gillette,D.A.Vulnerability of desert soil surfaces to wind erosion:impacts of soil texture and disturbance[J].J.Arid Environ.,1998,39(1):133～142.
[14] Belnap,J.et al.Biological soil crust:ecological roles and response to fire in miombo woodlands of Zimbabwe[J].Trans.Zimbabwe Sci.Assoc.,1996,70(1):14～20.
[15] Beymer,R.J.and Klopatek,J.M.Potential contribution of carbon by microphytic crusts in pinyon-juniper woodlands[J].Arid Soil Res.Reh.,1991,5(2):187～198.
[16] Beymer,R.J.and Klopatek,J.M.Effects of grazing on cryptogamic crusts in pinyon-juniper woodlands in Grand Canyon National Park[J].Amer.Mid.Nat.,1992,127(1):139～148.
[17] Bush,J.K.and Auken,O.W.Importance of time of germination and soil depth on growth of Prosopis glandulosa seedling in the process of a C4 grass[J].Amer.J.Bot.,1991,78(12):1732～1739.
[18] Campbell,S.E.et al.Desert crust formation and soil stabilization[J].Arid Soil Res.Reh.,1989,3(1):217～228.
[19] Carleton,T.J.Variation in terricolous bryophyte and macrolichen vegetation along primary gradients in Canadian boreal forests[J].J.Veg.Sci.,1990,1(3):585～594.
[20] Crawford,C.S.The community ecology of macroarthropod detritivores[A].In :Polis,G.ed.Ecology of Desert Communities[M].Tucson:University of Arizona Press,1991.456.
[21] Danin,A.et al.The role of cyanobacteria in stabilization of sand dunes in southern Israel[J].Ecol.Med.,1989,15(1):55～64.
[22] Dobrowolski,J.P.In situ estimation of effective hydraulic conductivity to improve erosion modeling for rangeland conditions[A].In:Variability of Rangeland Water Erosion Processes[C].Madison:Soil Science Society of America,1994.83～91.
[23] Eldridge,D.J.Cryptogam cover and soil surface condition:effects on hydrology on a semiarid woodland soil[J].Arid Soil Res.Reh.,1993,7(1):203～217.
[24] Eldridge,D.J.Cryptogams,vascular plants and soil hydrological relations:some preliminary results from the semiarid woodlands of eastern Australia[J].Great Basin Nat.,1993,53(1):48～58.
[25] Eldridge,D.J.Distribution and floristics of terricolous lichens in soil crusts in arid and semi-arid New South Wales,Australia[J].Aus.J.Bot.,1996,44(3):581～599.
[26] Eldridge,D.J.and Greene,R.S.B.Microbiotic soil crusts:a review of their roles in soil and ecological processes in the rangelands of Australia[J].Aus.J.Soil Res.,1994,32:389～415.
[27] Evans,R.D.and Ehleringer,J.R.A break in the nitrogen cycle in aridlands? Evidence from 15N of soils[J].Oecologia,1993,9(2):314～317.
[28] Garcia-Pichel,E.and Belnap,J.The microenvironments and microscale productivity of cyanobacterial desert crusts[J].J.Phyt.,1996,32(4):774～782.
[29] Gillette,D.A.and Dobrowolski,J.P.Soil crust formation by dust deposition at Shaartuz,Tadzhik,S.S.R[J].Atmospheric.Env.,1993,27(12):2519～2525.
[30] Greene,S.B.et al.The effects of fire on the soil in a degraded semi-arid woodland.I.Cryptogam cover and physical and micro-morphological properties[J].Aus.J.Soil.Res.,1990,28(4):755～777.
[31] Harper,K.T.and Pendleton,R.L.Cyanobacteria and cyanolichens:can they enhance availability of essential minerals for higher plants[J] ? Great Basin Nat.,1993,53(1):59～72.
[32] Harper,K.T.and Marble,J.R.A role for nonvascular plants in management of arid and semiarid rangeland[A].In:Tueller,P.T.(ed).Vegetation Sicence Applications for Rangeland Analysis and Management[M].Dordrecht:Kluwer Academic Publisher,1988.135～169.
[33] Jeffries,D.L.et al.CO2 fluxes of cryptogamic crusts.Ⅰ.Response to resaturation[J].New Phyt.,1993,125(2):163～174.
[34] Jeffries,D.L.et al.CO2 fluxes of cryptogamic crusts.Ⅱ.Response to dehydration[J].New Phyt.,1993,125(3):391～396.
[35] Jeffries,D.L.et al.Acetylene reduction by cryptogamic crusts from a blackbrush community as related to resaturation and dehydration[J].Soil Biol.Biochem.,1992,24(8):1101～1105.
[36] Jungerius,P.D.and Meulen,F.Erosion processes in a dune landscape along the Dutch coast[J].Catena,1988,15(2):217～228.
[37] Kidron,G.J.et al.Two different causes for runoff initiation on microbiotic crusts:hydrophobicity and pore clogging[J].Soil Sci.,1999,164(1):18～27.
[38] Kinnell,P.I.A.et al.The effects of fire on the soil in a degraded semi-arid woodland.Ⅱ.Susceptibility of the soil to erosion by shallow rain-impacted flow[J].Aust.J.Soil Res.,1990,28(4):755～777.
[39] Lange,O.L.et al.Photosynthesis and water relations of lichen soil-crusts:Field measurements in the coastal fog zone of the Namib Desert[J].Funct.Ecol.,1994,8(2):253～264.
[40] Lange,O.L.et al.Taxonomic composition and photosynthetic characteristics of the "biological soil crusts" covering sand dunes in the western Negev Desert[J].Funct.Ecol.,1992,6(4):519～527.
[41] Lange,O.L.et al.Photosynthesis of green algal soil crust lichens from arid lands in southern Utah,USA:role of water content on light and temperature responses of CO2 exchange[J].Flora,1997,192(1):1～15.
[42] Li,X.R.et al.Study on soil microbiotic crust and its influences on sandfixing vegetation in arid desert region[J].Acta Bot.Sin.,2000,42(9):965～970.
[43] Mckenna-Neuman,D.et al.Wind transport of sand surfaces crusted with photoautotrophic microorganisms[J].Catena,1996,27(2):229～247.
[44] Mucher,H.J.et al.Micromorphology and significance of the surface crusts of soils in rangelands near Cobar,Australia[J].Geoderma,1988,42(2):227～244.
[45] Nash,T.H.Lichen Biology[M].Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,1996.303.
[46] Nobel,P.S.et al.Differential growth response of agaves to nitrogen,phosphorus,potassium,and boron applications[J].J.Plant Nutrition.,1988,11(10):1683～1700.
[47] Pearl,H.W.Physiological ecology and regulation of N2 fixation in natural waters[J].Adv.Micro.Ecol.,1990,2(2):305～344.
[48] Pendleton,R.L.and Warren,S.D.Effects of cryptobiotic soil crusts and VA mycorrhizal inoculation on growth of five rangeland plant species[A].In:West,N.E.(ed).Proceedings of the Fifth International Rangeland Congress[C].Salt Lake City:Society for Range Management,1995.436～437.
[49] Peterjohn,W.T.and Schlesinger,W.H.Nitrogen loss from deserts in the south-western United States[J].Biogeochem.,1990,10(1):67～79.
[50] Rosentreter,R.Compositional patterns with a rabbitbrush(Chrysothamnus) community of the Idaho Snake River Plain[A].In:McArthur,E.D.and Welch,B.L.comps.Proceedings - Symposium on the Biology of Artemisia and Chrysothamnus[C].Ogdon:USDA Forest Service,Intermountain Research Station,1986.273～277.
[51] Silvester,W.B.et al.Direct measurement of release and assimilation of ammonia in the Gunnera-Nostoc symbiosis[J].New Phytol.,1996,132(4):617～625.
[52] St.Clair,L.L.and Johansen,J.R.Introduction to the symposium on soil crust communities[J].Great Basin Nat.,1993,53(1):1～4.
[53] Tongway,D.J.and Ludwig,J.A.Vegetation and soil patterning of semi-arid mulga land of eastern Australia[J].Aust.J.Ecol.,1990,15(1):23～34.
[54] Verrecchia,E.et al.Physical properties of the psammophile cryptogamic crust and their consequences to the water regime of sandy soils,north-western Negev Desert,Israel[J].J.Arid Environ.,1995,29(3):427～437.
[55] Williams,J.D.et al.Microphytic crust influence on interrill erosion and infiltration capacity[J].Trans.Amer. Soc.Agri.Engin.,1995,38(1):139～146.
[56] Yair,A.Runoff generation in a sandy area-the Nizzana sands,western Negev,Israel[J].Earth Surf.Pro.Land,1990,15(3):597～609.
[57] Zamfir,M.effects of bryophytes and lichens on seedling emergence of alvar plants:Evidence from greenhouse experiments[J].Oikos,2000,88(3):603～611.