Uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts
Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts (BSCs) are formed by adhesion of soil particles to exopolysaccharides (EPSs) excreted by cyanobacterial and green algal communities, the pioneers and main primary producers in these habitats. These BSCs provide and influence many ecosystem services...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c9e1922f299b4d6584d4417fea6a1123 2023-05-15T13:45:59+02:00 Uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts P. Jung L. Briegel-Williams A. Simon A. Thyssen B. Büdel 2018-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1149-2018 https://doaj.org/article/c9e1922f299b4d6584d4417fea6a1123 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.biogeosciences.net/15/1149/2018/bg-15-1149-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-15-1149-2018 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/c9e1922f299b4d6584d4417fea6a1123 Biogeosciences, Vol 15, Pp 1149-1160 (2018) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1149-2018 2022-12-31T09:20:14Z Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts (BSCs) are formed by adhesion of soil particles to exopolysaccharides (EPSs) excreted by cyanobacterial and green algal communities, the pioneers and main primary producers in these habitats. These BSCs provide and influence many ecosystem services such as soil erodibility, soil formation and nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycles. In cold environments degradation rates are low and BSCs continuously increase soil organic C; therefore, these soils are considered to be CO 2 sinks. This work provides a novel, non-destructive and highly comparable method to investigate intact BSCs with a focus on cyanobacteria and green algae and their contribution to soil organic C. A new terminology arose, based on confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) 2-D biomaps, dividing BSCs into a photosynthetic active layer (PAL) made of active photoautotrophic organisms and a photosynthetic inactive layer (PIL) harbouring remnants of cyanobacteria and green algae glued together by their remaining EPSs. By the application of CLSM image analysis (CLSM–IA) to 3-D biomaps, C coming from photosynthetic active organisms could be visualized as depth profiles with C peaks at 0.5 to 2 mm depth. Additionally, the CO 2 sink character of these cold soil habitats dominated by BSCs could be highlighted, demonstrating that the first cubic centimetre of soil consists of between 7 and 17 % total organic carbon, identified by loss on ignition. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Antarctic Biogeosciences 15 4 1149 1160 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 P. Jung L. Briegel-Williams A. Simon A. Thyssen B. Büdel Uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts (BSCs) are formed by adhesion of soil particles to exopolysaccharides (EPSs) excreted by cyanobacterial and green algal communities, the pioneers and main primary producers in these habitats. These BSCs provide and influence many ecosystem services such as soil erodibility, soil formation and nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycles. In cold environments degradation rates are low and BSCs continuously increase soil organic C; therefore, these soils are considered to be CO 2 sinks. This work provides a novel, non-destructive and highly comparable method to investigate intact BSCs with a focus on cyanobacteria and green algae and their contribution to soil organic C. A new terminology arose, based on confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) 2-D biomaps, dividing BSCs into a photosynthetic active layer (PAL) made of active photoautotrophic organisms and a photosynthetic inactive layer (PIL) harbouring remnants of cyanobacteria and green algae glued together by their remaining EPSs. By the application of CLSM image analysis (CLSM–IA) to 3-D biomaps, C coming from photosynthetic active organisms could be visualized as depth profiles with C peaks at 0.5 to 2 mm depth. Additionally, the CO 2 sink character of these cold soil habitats dominated by BSCs could be highlighted, demonstrating that the first cubic centimetre of soil consists of between 7 and 17 % total organic carbon, identified by loss on ignition. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
P. Jung L. Briegel-Williams A. Simon A. Thyssen B. Büdel |
author_facet |
P. Jung L. Briegel-Williams A. Simon A. Thyssen B. Büdel |
author_sort |
P. Jung |
title |
Uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts |
title_short |
Uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts |
title_full |
Uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts |
title_fullStr |
Uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts |
title_full_unstemmed |
Uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact Arctic, Antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts |
title_sort |
uncovering biological soil crusts: carbon content and structure of intact arctic, antarctic and alpine biological soil crusts |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1149-2018 https://doaj.org/article/c9e1922f299b4d6584d4417fea6a1123 |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 15, Pp 1149-1160 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.biogeosciences.net/15/1149/2018/bg-15-1149-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-15-1149-2018 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/c9e1922f299b4d6584d4417fea6a1123 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1149-2018 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1149 |
op_container_end_page |
1160 |
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