Biological Soil Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands
Editors: Weber, Bettina, Büdel, Burkhard, Belnap, Jayne (Eds.)
Free Preview- Provides an updated overview of the field following the publication of Volume 150 on biocrusts in 2003
- Enhances our understanding of the role of biocrusts as an organizing principle in drylands
- Identifies knowledge gaps and offers ideas for promising new research approaches
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- About this book
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This volume summarizes our current understanding of biological soil crusts (biocrusts), which are omnipresent in dryland regions. Since they cover the soil surface, they influence, or even control, all surface exchange processes. Being one of the oldest terrestrial communities, biocrusts comprise a high diversity of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens and bryophytes together with uncounted bacteria, and fungi. The authors show that biocrusts are an integral part of dryland ecosystems, stabilizing soils, influencing plant germination and growth, and playing a key role in carbon, nitrogen and water cycling. Initial attempts have been made to use biocrusts as models in ecological theory. On the other hand, biocrusts are endangered by local disruptions and global change, highlighting the need for enhanced recovery methods. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the fascinating field of biocrust research, making it indispensable not only for scientists in this area, but also for land managers, policy makers, and anyone interested in the environment.
- Table of contents (25 chapters)
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Biological Soil Crusts as an Organizing Principle in Drylands
Pages 3-13
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How Biological Soil Crusts Became Recognized as a Functional Unit: A Selective History
Pages 15-33
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Terrestrial Ecosystems in the Precambrian
Pages 37-54
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Cyanobacteria and Algae of Biological Soil Crusts
Pages 55-80
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Bacteria and Non-lichenized Fungi Within Biological Soil Crusts
Pages 81-100
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Table of contents (25 chapters)
- Download Preface 1 PDF (22 KB)
- Download Sample pages 1 PDF (1.1 MB)
- Download Table of contents PDF (25.7 KB)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Biological Soil Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands
- Editors
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- Bettina Weber
- Burkhard Büdel
- Jayne Belnap
- Series Title
- Ecological Studies
- Series Volume
- 226
- Copyright
- 2016
- Publisher
- Springer International Publishing
- Copyright Holder
- Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-319-30214-0
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-30214-0
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-30212-6
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-80752-2
- Series ISSN
- 0070-8356
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- IX, 549
- Number of Illustrations
- 49 b/w illustrations, 81 illustrations in colour
- Topics
