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Biocrusts are a living complex of microscopic organisms (cyanobacteria, bacteria, fungi, algae, lichens, liverworts, mosses) that cover the upper soil between vascular vegetation in arid and semi-arid rangelands. As providers of ecosystem services, they are a nature-based solution for landscape regeneration, but site-and species-specific knowledge is often missing. We tested the hypothesis that biocrusts differ in their effect on grass germination. Our focus was Mitchell grasslands with tussock grass Astrebla lappacea because degraded semi-arid western Queensland requires effective regeneration techniques. We used characteristic descriptions of biocrusts in testing the effects of biocrust as soil surface or as separate seed inoculum on germination success in glasshouse and laboratory experiments. Germinations increased slightly on a biocrust surface compared to a sand-only control. Although differences were not statistically significant, germination was greater than in sand in 71.4% of inoculum treatments and rate was significantly faster in one-third of treatments. With promising early findings, we conclude that biocrusts can improve germination of A. lappacea, with optimisation in next-steps research such as inoculum field experiments across landscapes. Biocrusts hold promise as a nature-based solution to address the global problem of degraded rangelands.