Soil moisture dynamics under two rainfall frequency treatments drive early spring CO₂ gas exchange of lichen-dominated biocrusts in central Spain.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Biocrusts, communities dominated by mosses, lichens, cyanobacteria, and other microorganisms, largely affect the carbon cycle of drylands. As poikilohydric organisms, their activity time is often limited to short hydration events. The photosynthetic and respiratory response of biocrusts to hydration events is not only determined by the overall amount of available water, but also by the frequency and size of individual rainfall pulses.

Methods

We experimentally assessed the carbon exchange of a biocrust community dominated by the lichen Diploschistes diacapsis in central Spain. We compared the effect of two simulated precipitation patterns providing the same overall amount of water, but with different pulse sizes and frequency (high frequency: five mm/day vs

SUBMITTER: Baldauf S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6241396 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature