Optimizing the Production of Nursery-Based Biological Soil Crusts for Restoration of Arid Land Soils.

ABSTRACT: Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are topsoil communities formed by cyanobacteria or other microbial primary producers and are typical of arid and semiarid environments. Biocrusts promote a range of ecosystem services, such as erosion resistance and soil fertility, but their degradation by often anthropogenic disturbance brings about the loss of these services. This has prompted interest in developing restoration techniques. One approach is to source biocrust remnants from the area of interest for scale-up cultivation in a microbial "nursery" that produces large quantities of high-quality inoculum for field deployment. However, growth dynamics and the ability to reuse the produced inoculum for continued production have not been assessed. To optimize production, we followed nursery growth

SUBMITTER: Bethany J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6643228 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature