Dune Blowouts as Microbial Hotspots and the Changes of Overall Microbial Activity and Photosynthetic Biomass Along with Succession of Biological Soil Crusts.

Biological soil crust (BSC) constitutes a consortium of cyanobacteria, algae, lichen, mosses, and heterotrophic microorganisms, forming a miniature ecosystem within the uppermost soil layer. The biomass of different organisms forming BSC and their activity changes along with succession. Previous studies focused primarily on BSC in hyper-arid/arid regions, whereas the ecophysiology of BSC in temperate climates is still not well recognized.