@misc{ZaplataSchuembergKidronetal., author = {Zaplata, Markus K. and Sch{\"u}mberg, Sabine and Kidron, Giora J. and Ramm, Jessica and Veste, Maik}, title = {Impacts of cyanobacteria-dominated biological soil crusts on seedling emergence and fate: an in situ experiment}, series = {Pant and Soil : an International Journal on Plant-Soil Relationships}, journal = {Pant and Soil : an International Journal on Plant-Soil Relationships}, doi = {10.1007/s11104-024-06869-3}, pages = {16}, abstract = {Background and aims Biological soil crusts (BSCs) co-occur with vascular plants in many ecosystems. Nevertheless, little is known regarding the interaction among BSCs and vascular plants, and no standard methods exist aiming to evaluate BSC-plant interactions. While some reports emphasized the inhibition effect of BSCs on germination, others reported the opposite or did not find any differences between germination under crusted and non-crusted conditions. Contradictory findings were also reported regarding the BSC effects on vascular plants after germination, with some reports claiming that BSCs promote growth, while others claim the opposite. Methods By a seed addition experiment (using light and heavy seeds of three species belonging to the Fabaceae family) in an early-successional system in Germany, we tested in situ the emergence of seedlings under variable surface conditions (cyanobacterial crust, disturbed and removed crust), and quantified crust-plant interactions (survival, flowering) during and following seedling emergence. Results In comparison to an average of 8\% of the light Lotus corniculatus and 20\% of the light Ornithopus sativus that emerged through the cyanobacterial BSC, 76\% of the heavy Glycine max emerged. Once emerged, the crust did not significantly affect the survival, growth, biomass, or flowering of G. max, whereas many of the seedlings from lightweight seeds dried up soon after emergence. The thickness of the cyanobacterial biocrust had no influence on Fabaceae emergence. Conclusion The cyanobacterial BSC acted as a filter that hindered the emergence of the lightweight seeds.}, language = {en} } @misc{XiaoHuVesteetal., author = {Xiao, Bo and Hu, Kelin and Veste, Maik and Kidron, Giora J.}, title = {Natural recovery rates of moss biocrusts after severe disturbance in a semiarid climate of the Chinese Loess Plateau}, series = {Geoderma}, volume = {337}, journal = {Geoderma}, issn = {0016-7061}, doi = {10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.09.054}, pages = {402 -- 412}, abstract = {Biocrusts are vulnerable to large scale disturbances including trampling activities, and their recovery rates are highly variable with estimates fluctuating by more than one order of magnitude, from<5 years (very fast) to>250 years (very slow). Also, the development of microbial abundance and community diversity of biocrusts after disturbances is poorly understood. In a semiarid climate of the Chinese Loess Plateau, we conducted a recovery experiment on well-developed moss biocrusts after a severe disturbance, during which the entire upper 3 cm of the surface was removed. In the following nine years, the general characteristics and microbial community of the recovering and undisturbed biocrusts as well as a substrate with no crust (bare sand) were periodically determined. Through linear or logistic extrapolation of the observed recovery rates, the recovery time of the biocrusts after disturbance was estimated by both biocrust characteristics and microbial community. Recovery time yielded the following estimates: a) coverage within 3 years, b) thickness within 8 years, c) biomass within 9-13 years, and d) cultivable microbial density within 11-13 years. More importantly, the recovery time of the disturbed moss-biocrusts estimated by the number of bacteria and fungi was ~10 and 20 years, respectively, and that estimated by the bacterial and fungal community diversity was 12-14 and 12-16 years, respectively. In conclusion, moss biocrusts would take 15-20 years to achieve full recovery, which was shorter than many previously published estimates that regarded biocrusts and especially moss-dominated biocrusts to have a long recovery time of hundreds of years. However, it should be also kept in mind that very fast recovery (< 5 years) of biocrusts was less reliable because such estimations are mostly based on visual cover only rather than on the multi-variables of the recovering biocrusts.}, language = {en} } @misc{KidronVesteLichner, author = {Kidron, Giora J. and Veste, Maik and Lichner, Lubomir}, title = {Biological factors impacting hydrological processes: Pecularities of plants and biological soil crusts}, series = {Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics}, volume = {69}, journal = {Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics}, number = {4}, issn = {1338-4333}, doi = {10.2478/johh-2021-0031}, pages = {357 -- 359}, abstract = {The effects of biological factors on the water cycle and subsequently on hydrological processes have wide and profound consequences on ecosystem structure, function and management. A profound understanding of their effects is of prime importance especially in light of climate change projection}, language = {en} }