Abstract: An investigation was conducted on the moss species in the biotic crust of sandy shale in Maotai Town of Guizhou Province, and the biomass, pedogenesis amount, and saturated water absorption amount of dominant moss species were measured, aimed to understand the role of moss crust in soil and water loss control. Six moss species were recorded, belonging to 6 genera of 5 families, among which, Homomallium plagiangium, Grimmia sessitana, Epipterygium tozeri, and Bryum argenteum were the dominant species. The biomass, pedogenesis amount, and saturated water absorption amount of the four dominant moss species ranged in 0.5-104 g·m^-2, 1.6-481 g·m^-2, 2.8-1987 g·m^-2, respectively, and were far higher for H. plagiangium, suggesting its key role in the formation of soil biotic crust on the sandy shale, and its significance in the water and soil loss control in study area.

Key words: ALMANAC model, Scale, Sorghum, Maize