Biological soil crusts enhance the recovery of nutrient levels of surface dune soil in arid desert regions

• Published in: Ecological indicators 2019-11, Vol.106, p.105497, Article 105497
• Main Authors: He, Mingzhu, Hu, Rui, Jia, Rongliang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cyanobacteria-lichen crusts; Moss crust; Nutrient enrichment rate (NER); Revegetation age
• ISSN: 1470-160X; 1872-7034
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105497

•BSCs enhanced the recovery of nutrient levels of surface dune soil over a 50-year revegetation.•Nutrient enrichment rate (NER) of BSCs exhibited patterns.•Year 31 was a key turning point for development of BSCs.•Nutrient levels were affected by both soil conditions and biological properties of cryptogams. Revegetation, an effective method for restoring desertified lands, helps enhance the colonization and development of biological soil crusts (BSCs) and improves the nutrient conditions of desert soils. This study aims to shed light on the changes of elemental concentrations and their enrichment in fixed surface soil of sand dunes over a 50-year revegetation chronosequence linked to BSCs of different successional stages in the Tengger desert of China. We investigated the elemental levels of K, Na, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe in surface soil covered by cyanobacteria-lichen crusts, moss crusts and subsoil. Nutrient enrichment of BSCs and soils were analyzed to reflect the nutrient changes in the revegetated desert ecosystem. Concentrations of K, Na, Ca, Mn, Zn, and Cu in cyanobacteria-lichen crusts were significantly higher than in mobile sand dunes. Nutrient enrichment rate (except for Na) exhibited unimodal patterns, and year 31 was a key turning point after which the rate switched from increasing to decreasing over time. Our long-term study indicated that both cyanobacteria-lichen crusts and moss crusts can effectively improve nutrient accumulation and promote edaphic conditions, which is beneficial to the development and nutrient cycling of desert ecosystems.