NDLI: Elevated CO2 did not mitigate the effect of a short-term drought on biological soil crusts

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Wertin, Timothy M. Phillips, Susan L. Reed, Sasha C. Belnap, Jayne
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are critical components of arid and semi-arid ecosystems that contribute significantly to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) fixation, water retention, soil stability, and seedling recruitment. While dry-land ecosystems face a number of environmental changes, our understanding of how biocrusts may respond to such perturbation remains notably poor. To determine the effect that elevated CO2 may have on biocrust composition, cover, and function, we measured percent soil surface cover, effective quantum yield, and pigment concentrations of naturally occurring biocrusts growing in ambient and elevated CO2 at the desert study site in Nevada, USA, from spring 2005 through spring 2007. During the experiment, a year-long drought allowed us to explore the interacting effects that elevated CO2 and water availability may have on biocrust cover and function. We found that, regardless of CO2 treatment, precipitation was the major regulator of biocrust cover. Drought reduced moss and lichen cover to near-zero in both ambient and elevated CO2 plots, suggesting that elevated CO2 did not alleviate water stress or increase C fixation to levels sufficient to mitigate drought-induced reduction in cover. In line with this result, lichen quantum yield and soil cyanobacteria pigment concentrations appeared more strongly dependent upon recent precipitation than CO2 treatment, although we did find evidence that, when hydrated, elevated CO2 increased lichen C fixation potential. Thus, an increase in atmospheric CO2 may only benefit biocrusts if overall climate patterns shift to create a wetter soil environment.
Starting Page	797
Ending Page	805
Page Count	9
File Format	PDF
ISSN	01782762
Journal	Biology and Fertility of Soils
Volume Number	48
Issue Number	7
e-ISSN	14320789
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2012-02-29
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Biological soil crust Collema spp Cyanobacteria Drought Elevated CO2 Global climate change Syntrichia spp Agriculture Soil Science & Conservation
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Agronomy and Crop Science Soil Science Microbiology

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