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Introduction to Microbiotic Crusts
Resource Link
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1044180.pdf
Author
Johnston, Roxanna
Publisher
USDA
Publication Year
1997
Body

Microbiotic crusts are commonly found in semiarid and arid environments throughout the world. Areas in the United States where crusts are a prominent feature of the landscape include the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau (19), Sonoran Desert (12), and the lower Columbia Basin (23). Crusts are also found in agricultural areas (21), native prairies (36), and sandy soils in Glacier Bay, Alaska (42). Outside the United States, crusts have been studied in the Antarctic (13), Australia (33), and Israel (28), among other locations. In fact, microbiotic crusts have been found on all continents and in most habitats, leaving few areas crust free (39).

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Technical Report
Additional Information
Introduction to Microbiotic Crusts provides information on a soil-associated component of many plant communities that has not been widely recognized or characterized. The majority of the research on these crusts is limited to the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau regions of the United States. There is validity in generalizing the basic functions of the crusts to wherever crusts are found, given that their gross compositions are similar (cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, lichens, etc.). However, it would not be valid to estimate the general importance of these functions in other regions because species composition does differ between crusts, particularly within the larger components (i.e., lichens, mosses)(39). In addition, the plant composition and functions of associated plant communities where crusts occur differ between regions. Understanding the role of microbiotic crusts in total resource management is an ongoing challenge.
Collection
Rangelands West
Keywords
soil crusts
microbiotic

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