Optimizing survival and growth of inoculated biocrust-forming cyanobacteria through native plant-based habitat amelioration.

Low restoration success in degraded drylands has promoted research efforts towards recovery of pioneer components of these ecosystems such as biocrusts. Biocrusts can stabilize soils and improve nutrient cycling to assist vegetation establishment, but their natural recovery following a disturbance may be very slow. Soil inoculation with biocrust-forming components such as cyanobacteria is widely spread to foster biocrust formation.

Isolation of biocrust cyanobacteria and evaluation of Cu, Pb, and Zn immobilisation potential for soil restoration and sustainable agriculture.

Soil contamination by heavy metals represents an important environmental and public health problem of global concern. Biocrust-forming cyanobacteria offer promise for heavy metal immobilisation in contaminated soils due to their unique characteristics, including their ability to grow in contaminated soils and produce exopolysaccharides (EPS). However, limited research has analysed the representativeness of cyanobacteria in metal-contaminated soils.

Non-rainfall water inputs: A key water source for biocrust carbon fixation.

Links between water and carbon (C) cycles in drylands are strongly regulated by biocrusts. These widespread communities in the intershrub spaces of drylands are able to use non-rainfall water inputs (NRWI) (fog, dewfall and water vapour) to become active and fix carbon dioxide (CO), converting biocrusts into the main soil C contributors during periods in which vegetation remains inactive. In this study, we first evaluated the influence of biocrust type on NRWI uptake using automated microlysimeters, and second, we performed an outdoor experiment to examine how NRWI affected C exchange (photosynthesis and respiration) in biocrusts.

Exopolysaccharide Features Influence Growth Success in Biocrust-forming Cyanobacteria, Moving From Liquid Culture to Sand Microcosms.

Land degradation in drylands is a drawback of the combined action of climate change and human activities. New techniques have been developed to induce artificial biocrusts formation as a tool for restoration of degraded drylands, and among them soils inoculation with cyanobacteria adapted to environmental stress. Improvement of soil properties by cyanobacteria inoculation is largely related to their ability to synthesize exopolysaccharides (EPS).

Polyphasic evaluation of key cyanobacteria in biocrusts from the most arid region in Europe.

Cyanobacteria are key microbes in topsoil communities that have important roles in preventing soil erosion, carbon and nitrogen fixation, and influencing soil hydrology. However, little is known regarding the identity and distribution of the microbial components in the photosynthetic assemblages that form a cohesive biological soil crust (biocrust) in drylands of Europe. In this study, we investigated the cyanobacterial species colonizing biocrusts in three representative dryland ecosystems from the most arid region in Europe (SE Spain) that are characterized by different soil conditions.