Cultivating Resilience in Dryland Soils: An Assisted Migration Approach to Biological Soil Crust Restoration.

ABSTRACT: Land use practices and climate change have driven substantial soil degradation across global drylands, impacting ecosystem functions and human livelihoods. Biological soil crusts, a common feature of dryland ecosystems, are under extensive exploration for their potential to restore the stability and fertility of degraded soils through the development of inoculants. However, stressful abiotic conditions often result in the failure of inoculation-based restoration in the field and may hinder the long-term success of biocrust restoration efforts. Taking an assisted migration approach, we cultivated biocrust inocula sourced from multiple hot-adapted sites (Mojave and Sonoran Deserts) in an outdoor facility at a cool desert site (Colorado Plateau). In addition to cultivating inoculum from each

SUBMITTER: Jech SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10608944 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature