Biological soil crust and disturbance controls on surface hydrology in a semi‐arid ecosystem

• Published in: Ecosphere (Washington, D.C) Vol. 8; no. 3
• Main Authors: Faist, Akasha M., Herrick, Jeffrey E., Belnap, Jayne, Van Zee, Justin W., Barger, Nichole N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.03.2017
• Subjects: biological soil crust; Biomass; Chlorophyll; Cumulative runoff; Cyanobacteria; Developmental stages; Disturbance; disturbance event; drylands; Ecosystems; Hydrology; Landscape; Light; Rainfall; rainfall simulation; Runoff; Sandy soils; sediment loss; Sediments; Simulated rainfall; Soil erosion; soil surface; Trampling; Water transport; United States > US; Utah

Biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) play an important role in surface hydrologic processes in dryland ecosystems and can be dramatically altered with soil surface disturbance. In this study, through a simulated rainfall experiment, we examined biocrust hydrologic responses to disturbance (...