Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

UC Riverside

UC Riverside Previously Published Works bannerUC Riverside

Biological soil crust community types differ in key ecological functions

Abstract

Soil stability, nitrogen and carbon fixation were assessed for eight biological soil crust community types within a Mojave Desert wilderness site. Cyanolichen crust outperformed all other crusts in multi-functionality whereas incipient crust had the poorest performance. A finely divided classification of biological soil crust communities improves estimation of ecosystem function and strengthens the accuracy of landscape-scale assessments.

Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.

Main Content
For improved accessibility of PDF content, download the file to your device.
Current View