About the Course
Biological soil crusts--communities of cyanobacteria, green algae, diatoms, bacteria, fungi, lichens and mosses--are important components of desert ecosystems. Biological soil crusts contribute to soil stabilization, increase soil fertility and influence soil-water relations. Crusts are involved in habitat provision and food web relations and directly affect seedling establishment. The course lecture introduces biological crusts, crust species diversity focusing on terrestrial cyanobacteria and green algae, introduces functional/morphological groups of crusts, and discusses their importance and contributions to desert ecosystems. In addition, methods of assessing biological soil crusts in the lab (basic microscopy) and field (including the stability test) are presented. Includes a field trip to the Wonderland of Rocks, where one learns to distinguish the main functional crust groups and to conduct the stability test.