{"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [{"id": "10.1007/s00248-018-1305-y", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:14:16Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-12-08", "title": "Soil Type and Cyanobacteria Species Influence the Macromolecular and Chemical Characteristics of the Polysaccharidic Matrix in Induced Biocrusts", "description": "Inoculation of soils with cyanobacteria is proposed as a sustainable biotechnological technique for restoration of degraded areas in drylands due to the important role that cyanobacteria and their exopolysaccharides (EPS) play in the environment. So far, few studies have analyzed the macromolecular and chemical characteristics of the polysaccharidic matrix in induced cyanobacterial biocrusts and the scarce existing studies have mainly focused on sandy soil textures. However, the characteristics of the cyanobacterial polysaccharidic matrix may greatly depend on soil type. The objective of this study was to examine the macromolecular distribution and monosaccharidic composition of the polysaccharidic matrix induced by inoculation of two cyanobacterial species common in arid environments, Phormidium ambiguum (non N-fixing) and Scytonema javanicum (N-fixing) in different soil types. S. javanicum promoted a higher release in the soil of the more soluble and less condensed EPS fraction (i.e., the loosely bound EPS fraction, LB-EPS), while P. ambiguum showed a higher release of the less soluble and more condensed EPS fraction (i.e., the tightly bound EPS fraction, TB-EPS). LB-EPSs were mainly composed of low MW molecules (<\u200950\u00a0kDa), while TB-EPSs were mainly composed of high MW molecules (1100-2000\u00a0kDa). The two EPS fractions showed a complex monosaccharidic composition (from 11 to 12 different types of monosaccharides), with glucose as the most abundant monosaccharide, in particular in the poorer soils characterized by lower organic C contents. In more C-rich soils, high abundances of galactose, mannose, and xylose were also found. Low abundance of uronic acids and hydrophobic monosaccharides, such as fucose and rhamnose, was found in the EPS extracted from the inoculated soils. Our results point to the influence of soil type on the macromolecular distribution and monosaccharide composition of the polysaccharidic matrix in induced biocrusts, which is likely to affect biocrust development and their role in soil structure and nutrient cycling in restored dryland soils.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Cyanobacteria inoculation", "Tightly bound EPS", "Polysaccharides", " Bacterial", "Biological soil crust; Cyanobacteria inoculation; Loosely bound EPS; Molecular weight; Monosaccharide composition; Tightly bound EPS; Ecology; Evolution; Behavior and Systematics; Ecology; Soil Science", "Biological soil crust", "Monosaccharide composition", "15. Life on land", "Cyanobacteria", "Molecular weight", "Biological soil crust; Cyanobacteria inoculation; Loosely bound EPS; Molecular weight; Monosaccharide composition; Tightly bound EPS; Ecology", " Evolution", " Behavior and Systematics; Ecology; Soil Science", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Loosely bound EPS", "Desert Climate", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://iris.unive.it/bitstream/10278/5089943/1/s00248-018-1305-y.pdf"}, {"href": "http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00248-018-1305-y.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-018-1305-y"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Microbial%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1007/s00248-018-1305-y", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s00248-018-1305-y", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s00248-018-1305-y"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-12-08T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1007/s11104-011-1097-z", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:14:49Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2012-01-19", "title": "Warming And Increased Precipitation Frequency On The Colorado Plateau: Implications For Biological Soil Crusts And Soil Processes", "description": "Changes in temperature and precipitation are expected to influence ecosystem processes worldwide. Despite their globally large extent, few studies to date have examined the effects of climate change in desert ecosystems, where biological soil crusts are key nutrient cycling components. The goal of this work was to assess how increased temperature and frequency of summertime precipitation affect the contributions of crust organisms to soil processes. With a combination of experimental 2\u00b0C warming and altered summer precipitation frequency applied over 2\u00a0years, we measured soil nutrient cycling and the structure and function of crust communities. We saw no change in crust cover, composition, or other measures of crust function in response to 2\u00b0C warming and no effects on any measure of soil chemistry. In contrast, crust cover and function responded to increased frequency of summer precipitation, shifting from moss to cyanobacteria-dominated crusts; however, in the short timeframe we measured, there was no accompanying change in soil chemistry. Total bacterial and fungal biomass was also reduced in watered plots, while the activity of two enzymes increased, indicating a functional change in the microbial community. Taken together, our results highlight the limited effects of warming alone on biological soil crust communities and soil chemistry, but demonstrate the substantially larger effects of altered summertime precipitation.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "biological soil crusts", "0303 health sciences", "03 medical and health sciences", "climate change", "soil chemistry", "13. Climate action", "colorado plateau", "15. Life on land"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Zelikova, Tamara J., Housman, David C., Grote, Ed E., Neher, Deborah A., Belnap, Jayne,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1097-z"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Plant%20and%20Soil", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1007/s11104-011-1097-z", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s11104-011-1097-z", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s11104-011-1097-z"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-01-20T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1007/s11104-017-3388-5", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:14:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-08-26", "title": "Livestock grazing and aridity reduce the functional diversity of biocrusts", "description": "Livestock grazing and climate change are two of the most important global change drivers affecting ecosystem functioning in drylands. Grazing and climate are known to influence the cover and composition of biocrusts, which are substantial components of dryland soils globally. Much less is known, however, about how these global change drivers affect the functional diversity of biocrust communities in these ecosystems. Here, we evaluate the role of increasing aridity and grazing intensity in driving the functional diversity of biocrusts. We collected data on multiple biocrust functional traits and community composition, recent and historic grazing intensity, and vascular plants at 151 sites from drylands in eastern Australia. We then used structural equation modelling and a fourth corner analysis to examine the combined effects of aridity and grazing on biocrust functional diversity and individual functional traits. Aridity had a significant direct suppressive effect on biocrust functional diversity. Effects of grazing by livestock, kangaroos and rabbits on functional diversity were predominantly indirect and suppressive, mediated by a reduction in biocrust cover. Grazing did, however, promote functional diversity via an increase in vascular plant richness, with a concomitant increase in biocrust richness. The overall effect of grazing on biocrust functional diversity however was negative. Fourth corner analyses revealed that livestock grazing had a significant negative effect on the ability of biocrusts to stabilise the soil. Aridity had strong negative effects on biocrust height and their ability to absorb water and capture sediment. Few significant relationships were detected between enzyme-related traits and environmental variables. Our findings provide novel evidence that the combination of increasing aridity and intensified livestock grazing will reduce the functional diversity and capabilities of biocrust communities, with resultant declines in ecosystem functioning.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "13. Climate action", "XXXXXX - Unknown", "Trait; Biological soil crust; soil crusts; ecosystem function; functional diversity; livestock; Drylands", "11. Sustainability", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11104-017-3388-5.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3388-5"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Plant%20and%20Soil", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1007/s11104-017-3388-5", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s11104-017-3388-5", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s11104-017-3388-5"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-08-26T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1462-2920.13954", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:18:26Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-10-18", "title": "Application of stable-isotope labelling techniques for the detection of active diazotrophs", "description": "Summary<p>Investigating active participants in the fixation of dinitrogen gas is vital as N is often a limiting factor for primary production. Biological nitrogen fixation is performed by a diverse guild of bacteria and archaea (diazotrophs), which can be free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living or symbionts. Free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living diazotrophs are widely distributed in the environment, yet our knowledge about their identity and ecophysiology is still limited. A major challenge in investigating this guild is inferring activity from genetic data as this process is highly regulated. To address this challenge, we evaluated and improved several 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90based methods for detecting N2 fixation activity (with a focus on soil samples) and studying active diazotrophs. We compared the acetylene reduction assay and the 15N2 tracer method and demonstrated that the latter is more sensitive in samples with low activity. Additionally, tracing 15N into microbial RNA provides much higher sensitivity compared to bulk soil analysis. Active soil diazotrophs were identified with a 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90RNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP approach optimized for environmental samples and benchmarked to 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90DNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP. Lastly, we investigated the feasibility of using SIP\uffe2\uff80\uff90Raman microspectroscopy for detecting 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90labelled cells. Taken together, these tools allow identifying and investigating active free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living diazotrophs in a highly sensitive manner in diverse environments, from bulk to the single\uffe2\uff80\uff90cell level.</p>", "keywords": ["Spectrum Analysis", " Raman", "BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS", "106005 Bioinformatik", "106023 Molekularbiologie", "Nitrogen Fixation", "REVEALS", "FLUORESCENCE", "Research Articles", "Soil Microbiology", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "SPECTROSCOPY", "Bacteria", "Nitrogen Isotopes", "106003 Biodiversity research", "106023 Molecular biology", "GENETIC-REGULATION", "Archaea", "6. Clean water", "SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN", "COMMUNITY", "106003 Biodiversit\u00e4tsforschung", "13. Climate action", "Isotope Labeling", "106022 Microbiology", "NITROGEN-FIXATION", "106005 Bioinformatics", "RIBOSOMAL-RNA", "N-2 FIXATION"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1462-2920.13954"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13954"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1462-2920.13954", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1462-2920.13954", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1462-2920.13954"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-12-15T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1462-2920.16268", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:18:27Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-11-03", "title": "Environmental micro\u2010niche filtering shapes bacterial pioneer communities during primary colonization of a Himalayas' glacier forefield", "description": "Abstract<p>The pedogenesis from the mineral substrate released upon glacier melting has been explained with the succession of consortia of pioneer microorganisms, whose structure and functionality are determined by the environmental conditions developing in the moraine. However, the microbiome variability that can be expected in the environmentally heterogeneous niches occurring in a moraine at a given successional stage is poorly investigated. In a 50\uffe2\uff80\uff89m2 area in the forefield of the Lobuche glacier (Himalayas, 5050\uffe2\uff80\uff89m above sea level), we studied six sites of primary colonization presenting different topographical features (orientation, elevation and slope) and harbouring greyish/dark biological soil crusts (BSCs). The spatial vicinity of the sites opposed to their topographical differences, allowed us to examine the effect of environmental conditions independently from the time of deglaciation. The bacterial microbiome diversity and their co\uffe2\uff80\uff90occurrence network, the bacterial metabolisms predicted from 16S rRNA gene high\uffe2\uff80\uff90throughput sequencing, and the microbiome intact polar lipids were investigated in the BSCs and the underlying sediment deep layers (DLs). Different bacterial microbiomes inhabited the BSCs and the DLs, and their composition varied among sites, indicating a niche\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific role of the micro\uffe2\uff80\uff90environmental conditions in the bacterial communities' assembly. In the heterogeneous sediments of glacier moraines, physico\uffe2\uff80\uff90chemical and micro\uffe2\uff80\uff90climatic variations at the site\uffe2\uff80\uff90spatial scale are crucial in shaping the microbiome microvariability and structuring the pioneer bacterial communities during pedogenesis.</p>", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "Pedogenesis", "0303 health sciences", "Glacier Foreland Succession", "Bacteria", "Biological soil crust", "15. Life on land", "Primary Colonization", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "RNA", " Ribosomal", " 16S", "Glacier Moraines", "Cold Deserts", "Pioneer Bacterial Communities", "Ice Cover", "Soil moisture", "Research Articles", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://air.unimi.it/bitstream/2434/949070/2/Rolli%20et%20al%202022%20Environmental%20micro%e2%80%90niche%20filtering%20shapes%20bacterial%20pioneer%20communities.pdf"}, {"href": "https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/fulltext.aspx?url=302678/40A25368-9064-4886-B8E6-E7942511FA71.pdf&pub_id=302678"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16268"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1462-2920.16268", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1462-2920.16268", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1462-2920.16268"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-11-18T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107947", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:16:50Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-08-15", "title": "Nitrogen inputs may improve soil biocrusts multifunctionality in dryland ecosystems", "description": "Open AccessSoil biocrusts (communities of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, lichens, and heterotrophs living at the soil surface) are fundamental components of dryland ecosystems worldwide. There is increasing concern over the potential for increasing nitrogen (N) inputs to affect biocrusts. This is of special concern in Mediterranean Basin drylands that face the threat of increased N inputs however, the effect on biocrusts remains poorly studied. We evaluated the potential effects of increased N inputs on biocrust structure and functioning in surrounding Mediterranean shrublands in the seventh year of a N-manipulation field experiment. We tracked the N-driven changes in biotope (changes in bare soil and in the non-legume and the legume occupation areas, and the percentage of radiation intercepted by plant canopies), evaluated biocrust functional traits (based on pigments) and measured biocrust functioning in terms of C and N cycling, soil fertility (macro and micronutrients) and biodiversity, and integrated these multiple soil functions simultaneously (i.e. soil multifunctionality) Biocrust pigment concentration was significantly influenced by both plant legacy and N input. Biocrust pigments revealed a clear functional shift from: i) biocrusts dominated by photosynthetically inactive cyanobacteria that fix N and are mostly committed to photoprotection at the expense of N-containing pigments under low N inputs; into ii) biocrusts more evenly composed of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, which are more photosynthetically active, but less committed to photoprotection and N fixation under exposure to increased N inputs. The N-driven functional and structural changes in biocrusts resulted in trade-offs in biocrust functioning and processes (only N fixation was affected) and an overall improvement in biocrust multifunctionality. By itself, biocrust pigment evenness accounted for ~50% of the observed variation in biocrust multifunctionality. The biocrust pigment functional approach we adopted to study the effects of increased N inputs from patchy developed anthropogenic landscapes provides novel and critical knowledge of biocrusts community and functioning, which may be used as a tool in biodiversity conservation strategies, ecosystem functions and ecological modelling.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "03 medical and health sciences", "Biocrust functioning", "13. Climate action", "Plant species legacy", "Biological soil crusts", "Biocrust pigments", "15. Life on land", "Increased N inputs", "Pigment functional traits"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107947"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Soil%20Biology%20and%20Biochemistry", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107947", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107947", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107947"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1365-2435.14304", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:18:25Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-02-21", "title": "Functional traits explain both seedling and adult plant spatial patterns in gypsum annual species", "description": "Abstract<p>   <p>Ecological processes such as seed dispersal or plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant interactions and environmental constraints such as climate or soil heterogeneity are known to influence establishment, and thus the spatial patterns of plant communities and populations. In this study, we hypothesized that key functional traits such as the specific leaf area (SLA), reproductive ratio (reproductive/vegetative biomass), seed mass and maximum plant height would influence the spatial patterns of individual species in annual, gypsophilous plant communities, and that these effects would be modulated by both the soil surface structure (biocrust) and climate (precipitation) conditions.</p>  <p>We mapped the spatial patterns of all plants found in six 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc3\uff97\uffe2\uff80\uff891\uffc2\uffa0m plots (more than 1000 individuals per plot) in both the seedling (autumn) and adult stages (spring) under two biocrust experimental conditions (intact vs. disturbed biocrust) during two consecutive years which were contrasted in term of precipitation (dry year and wet year). To assess the spatial patterns of seedlings and adults, we fitted four different spatial point pattern models (i.e. Poisson, inhomogeneous Poisson, Poisson cluster and inhomogeneous Poisson cluster processes) to each of the 242 populations of the 26 most abundant species that had more than 15 individuals per plot.</p>  <p>Most seedling populations exhibited clustered spatial patterns that persisted in the adult stage, which suggests that short\uffe2\uff80\uff90distance dispersal is an adaptive trait for soil specialists such as gypsophilous plants. One\uffe2\uff80\uff90third of the populations fitted an inhomogeneous model best but the physical structure of the biocrust was not related to them. More importantly, we found a connection between the functional strategies of species and the spatial distribution of plants. In particular, during the dry year, irrespective of the biocrust conditions, species with a high SLA and high Rep/Veg mainly exhibited clustered spatial patterns, whereas low SLA and low Rep/Veg were associated with random distributions. Species with heavy and light seed masses had random and clustered patterns, respectively. In both the dry and wet years, species with lower maximum heights had clustered patterns, whereas taller species exhibited random patterns. In addition, species with heavier seeds and greater maximum heights had the largest cluster sizes.</p>  <p>Our results confirm that the spatial patterns of seedlings and adult plants are significantly determined by the functional strategy of each species.</p>  </p><p>Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.</p", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "point pattern analysis", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "seed mass", "01 natural sciences", "maximum plant height", "biological soil crust", "seed dispersal", "reproductive/vegetative biomass ratio", "gypsophyte", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "specific leaf area"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2435.14304"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14304"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Functional%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1365-2435.14304", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1365-2435.14304", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1365-2435.14304"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-04-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1365-2745.13210", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:18:26Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-05-21", "title": "Evidence of functional species sorting by rainfall and biotic interactions: A community monolith experimental approach", "description": "Abstract<p>   <p>Understanding the mechanisms that underlie species assembly is a central concern in community ecology. Abiotic and biotic filters are probabilistic \uffe2\uff80\uff98sieves\uffe2\uff80\uff99 that allow species with certain functional traits to become a part of the community, or not. We manipulated natural plant assemblies in order to identify variations in the timings of biotic and abiotic filters that determine community trait assemblies.</p>  <p>We extracted soil portions when the investigated annual plant community was in its seed phase (\uffe2\uff80\uff98community monolith\uffe2\uff80\uff99), thereby maintaining the structure and similar soil characteristics to the field conditions. Community monoliths were subjected to experimental manipulation in terms of the rainfall timing and amount, and perturbations of the biological soil crust (BSC; intact vs. perturbed). We surveyed the experimental community assembly over time based on the functional diversity by considering important functional traits in different life stages.</p>  <p>We found that autumn droughts acted as abiotic filters by favouring the germination and establishment of species with greater investment in the root biomass. Under severe droughts (66% water reduction), the experimental assemblies were dominated by species with functional traits adapted to water shortage conditions: high leaf dry matter content, low specific leaf area, small individual size, low reproductive ratio and high root:shoot ratio. We identified two roles of BSCs in annual plant species assemblies: (a) as a biotic filter that limited the establishment of species based on seed size, and (b) as a buffer against water stress conditions by reducing soil evapotranspiration.</p>  <p>Synthesis. We demonstrated the importance of the timing and amount of rainfall for shaping annual plant communities, and identified germination filters as the main process that determined community assemblies. Our results suggest that the phenotypic integration of functional traits facilitates resistance to drought during the life cycle. The BSC\uffe2\uff80\uff93annual plant relationship shifted from negative, by acting as a germination filter, to positive, by acting as a buffer in later stages. Climatic fluctuations and fine scale biotic determinants of spatial heterogeneity emerged as sources of changes in the community assembly in time and space to possibly promote species coexistence and trait differences among the communities studied.</p>  </p>", "keywords": ["Annual plants", "0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Drought", "Biotic and abiotic filters", "Community assembly", "annual plant", " biological soil crust", " biotic and abiotic filters", " coexistence", " community assembly", " drought", " functional diversity", " Mediterranean grassland", "Biological soil crusts", "drought", "Functional diversity", "15. Life on land", "functional diversity", "Mediterranean grassland", "01 natural sciences", "6. Clean water", "biological soil crust", "gypsum soil", "annual plant", "13. Climate action", "community assembly", "precipitation seasonality", "Coexistence"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2745.13210"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13210"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1365-2745.13210", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1365-2745.13210", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1365-2745.13210"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-06-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1462-2920.16213", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:18:27Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-10-18", "title": "Application of stable\u2010isotope labelling techniques for the detection of active diazotrophs", "description": "Summary<p>Investigating active participants in the fixation of dinitrogen gas is vital as N is often a limiting factor for primary production. Biological nitrogen fixation is performed by a diverse guild of bacteria and archaea (diazotrophs), which can be free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living or symbionts. Free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living diazotrophs are widely distributed in the environment, yet our knowledge about their identity and ecophysiology is still limited. A major challenge in investigating this guild is inferring activity from genetic data as this process is highly regulated. To address this challenge, we evaluated and improved several 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90based methods for detecting N2 fixation activity (with a focus on soil samples) and studying active diazotrophs. We compared the acetylene reduction assay and the 15N2 tracer method and demonstrated that the latter is more sensitive in samples with low activity. Additionally, tracing 15N into microbial RNA provides much higher sensitivity compared to bulk soil analysis. Active soil diazotrophs were identified with a 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90RNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP approach optimized for environmental samples and benchmarked to 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90DNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP. Lastly, we investigated the feasibility of using SIP\uffe2\uff80\uff90Raman microspectroscopy for detecting 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90labelled cells. Taken together, these tools allow identifying and investigating active free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living diazotrophs in a highly sensitive manner in diverse environments, from bulk to the single\uffe2\uff80\uff90cell level.</p", "keywords": ["Spectrum Analysis", " Raman", "BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS", "106005 Bioinformatik", "106023 Molekularbiologie", "Nitrogen Fixation", "REVEALS", "FLUORESCENCE", "Research Articles", "Soil Microbiology", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "SPECTROSCOPY", "Bacteria", "Nitrogen Isotopes", "106003 Biodiversity research", "106023 Molecular biology", "GENETIC-REGULATION", "Archaea", "6. Clean water", "SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN", "COMMUNITY", "106003 Biodiversit\u00e4tsforschung", "13. Climate action", "Isotope Labeling", "106022 Microbiology", "NITROGEN-FIXATION", "106005 Bioinformatics", "RIBOSOMAL-RNA", "N-2 FIXATION"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1462-2920.13954"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16213"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1462-2920.16213", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1462-2920.16213", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1462-2920.16213"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-12-15T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1128/msystems.00786-20", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:19:03Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-01-11", "title": "Distribution of Mixotrophy and Desiccation Survival Mechanisms across Microbial Genomes in an Arid Biological Soil Crust Community", "description": "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><article><p>This study represents a comprehensive community-wide genome-centered metagenome analysis of biological soil crust (BSC) communities in arid environments, providing insights into the distribution of genes encoding different energy generation mechanisms, as well as survival strategies, among populations in an arid soil ecosystem. It reveals the metabolic potential of several uncultured and previously unsequenced microbial genera, families, and orders, as well as differences in the metabolic potential between the most abundant BSC populations and their cultured relatives, highlighting once more the danger of inferring function on the basis of taxonomy.</p></article>", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "BACTERIAL", "dormancy", "Survival", "RUBROBACTER-RADIOTOLERANS", "DIVERSITY", "Biological soil crust", "survival", "Microbiology", "7. Clean energy", "biological soil crust", "03 medical and health sciences", "mixotrophy", "Dormancy", "Mixotrophy", "SPORULATION", "COLORADO PLATEAU", "2. Zero hunger", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "metagenomics", "0303 health sciences", "ARTHROBACTER-RADIOTOLERANS", "15. Life on land", "XYLANOPHILUS", "QR1-502", "SP NOV.", "SURVIVAL", "106022 Microbiology", "RADIATION", "Metagenomics", "MEMBERS", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/mSystems.00786-20"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00786-20"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/mSystems", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1128/msystems.00786-20", "name": "item", "description": "10.1128/msystems.00786-20", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1128/msystems.00786-20"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2021-02-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.3389/fmicb.2015.00891", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:20:32Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2015-09-04", "title": "Soil Bacterial And Fungal Community Responses To Nitrogen Addition Across Soil Depth And Microhabitat In An Arid Shrubland", "description": "Arid shrublands are stressful environments, typified by alkaline soils low in organic matter, with biologically-limiting extremes in water availability, temperature, and UV radiation. The widely-spaced plants and interspace biological soil crusts in these regions provide soil nutrients in a localized fashion, creating a mosaic pattern of plant- or crust-associated microhabitats with distinct nutrient composition. With sporadic and limited rainfall, nutrients are primarily retained in the shallow surface soil, patterning biological activity. We examined soil bacterial and fungal community responses to simulated nitrogen (N) deposition in an arid Larrea tridentata-Ambrosia dumosa field experiment in southern Nevada, USA, using high-throughput sequencing of ribosomal RNA genes. To examine potential interactions among the N application, microhabitat and soil depth, we sampled soils associated with shrub canopies and interspace biological crusts at two soil depths (0-0.5 or 0-10 cm) across the N-amendment gradient (0, 7, and 15 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)). We hypothesized that localized compositional differences in soil microbiota would constrain the impacts of N addition to a microhabitat distribution that would reflect highly localized geochemical conditions and microbial community composition. The richness and community composition of both bacterial and fungal communities differed significantly by microhabitat and with soil depth in each microhabitat. Only bacterial communities exhibited significant responses to the N addition. Community composition correlated with microhabitat and depth differences in soil geochemical features. Given the distinct roles of soil bacteria and fungi in major nutrient cycles, the resilience of fungi and sensitivity of bacteria to N amendments suggests that increased N input predicted for many arid ecosystems could shift nutrient cycling toward pathways driven primarily by fungal communities.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0301 basic medicine", "biological soil crusts", "0303 health sciences", "microhabitat", "soil bacterial community", "dryland", "15. Life on land", "soil fungal community", "Microbiology", "Shrubland", "QR1-502", "6. Clean water", "03 medical and health sciences", "Soil bacterial community", "shrubland", "ribosomal RNA", "global change"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Cheryl R. Kuske, Jayne Belnap, Rebecca C. Mueller,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00891"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Frontiers%20in%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.3389/fmicb.2015.00891", "name": "item", "description": "10.3389/fmicb.2015.00891", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00891"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2015-09-04T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.3390/rs11111350", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:20:55Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-06-06", "title": "Spectral Response Analysis: An Indirect and Non-Destructive Methodology for the Chlorophyll Quantification of Biocrusts", "description": "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><article><p>Chlorophyll a concentration (Chla) is a well-proven proxy of biocrust development, photosynthetic organisms\u2019 status, and recovery monitoring after environmental disturbances. However, laboratory methods for the analysis of chlorophyll require destructive sampling and are expensive and time consuming. Indirect estimation of chlorophyll a by means of soil surface reflectance analysis has been demonstrated to be an accurate, cheap, and quick alternative for chlorophyll retrieval information, especially in plants. However, its application to biocrusts has yet to be harnessed. In this study we evaluated the potential of soil surface reflectance measurements for non-destructive Chla quantification over a range of biocrust types and soils. Our results revealed that from the different spectral transformation methods and techniques, the first derivative of the reflectance and the continuum removal were the most accurate for Chla retrieval. Normalized difference values in the red-edge region and common broadband indexes (e.g., normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) were also sensitive to changes in Chla. However, such approaches should be carefully adapted to each specific biocrust type. On the other hand, the combination of spectral measurements with non-linear random forest (RF) models provided very good fits (R2 &gt; 0.94) with a mean root mean square error (RMSE) of about 6.5 \u00b5g/g soil, and alleviated the need for a specific calibration for each crust type, opening a wide range of opportunities to advance our knowledge of biocrust responses to ongoing global change and degradation processes from anthropogenic disturbance.</p></article>", "keywords": ["chlorophyll quantification", "remote sensing", "hyperspectral", "13. Climate action", "Science", "Q", "Biocrusts; biological soil crust; chlorophyll quantification; hyperspectral; random forest; remote sensing", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "random forest", "Biocrusts", "biological soil crust"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/11/1350/pdf"}, {"href": "https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/11/1350/pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11111350"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Remote%20Sensing", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.3390/rs11111350", "name": "item", "description": "10.3390/rs11111350", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.3390/rs11111350"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-06-05T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10451/49705", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:45Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-08-15", "title": "Nitrogen inputs may improve soil biocrusts multifunctionality in dryland ecosystems", "description": "Open AccessSoil biocrusts (communities of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, lichens, and heterotrophs living at the soil surface) are fundamental components of dryland ecosystems worldwide. There is increasing concern over the potential for increasing nitrogen (N) inputs to affect biocrusts. This is of special concern in Mediterranean Basin drylands that face the threat of increased N inputs however, the effect on biocrusts remains poorly studied. We evaluated the potential effects of increased N inputs on biocrust structure and functioning in surrounding Mediterranean shrublands in the seventh year of a N-manipulation field experiment. We tracked the N-driven changes in biotope (changes in bare soil and in the non-legume and the legume occupation areas, and the percentage of radiation intercepted by plant canopies), evaluated biocrust functional traits (based on pigments) and measured biocrust functioning in terms of C and N cycling, soil fertility (macro and micronutrients) and biodiversity, and integrated these multiple soil functions simultaneously (i.e. soil multifunctionality) Biocrust pigment concentration was significantly influenced by both plant legacy and N input. Biocrust pigments revealed a clear functional shift from: i) biocrusts dominated by photosynthetically inactive cyanobacteria that fix N and are mostly committed to photoprotection at the expense of N-containing pigments under low N inputs; into ii) biocrusts more evenly composed of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, which are more photosynthetically active, but less committed to photoprotection and N fixation under exposure to increased N inputs. The N-driven functional and structural changes in biocrusts resulted in trade-offs in biocrust functioning and processes (only N fixation was affected) and an overall improvement in biocrust multifunctionality. By itself, biocrust pigment evenness accounted for ~50% of the observed variation in biocrust multifunctionality. The biocrust pigment functional approach we adopted to study the effects of increased N inputs from patchy developed anthropogenic landscapes provides novel and critical knowledge of biocrusts community and functioning, which may be used as a tool in biodiversity conservation strategies, ecosystem functions and ecological modelling.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "03 medical and health sciences", "Biocrust functioning", "13. Climate action", "Plant species legacy", "Biological soil crusts", "Biocrust pigments", "15. Life on land", "Increased N inputs", "Pigment functional traits"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://repositorio.ulisboa.pt/bitstream/10451/49705/1/Nitrogen%20inputs%20may%20improve%20soil%20biocrusts%20multifunctionality%20in%20dryland%20ecosystems.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10451/49705"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Soil%20Biology%20and%20Biochemistry", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10451/49705", "name": "item", "description": "10451/49705", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10451/49705"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.z08kprrk8", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:33Z", "type": "Dataset", "created": "2023-09-12", "title": "Biocrust environmental data across Chinese deserts", "description": "unspecifiedOne of the key goals of ecology is to understand how communities are  assembled. The species co-existence theory suggests that community  \u03b2-diversity is influenced by species pool and community assembly  processes, such as environmental filtering, dispersal events, ecological  drift, and biotic interactions. However, it remains unclear whether there  are similar \u03b2-diversity patterns among different soil microbial groups and  whether all these mechanisms play significant roles in mediating  \u03b2-diversity patterns. By conducting a broad survey across Chinese deserts,  we aimed to address these questions by investing biological soil crusts  (biocrusts). Through amplicon-sequencing, we acquired \u03b2-diversity data for  multiple microbial groups, that is, soil total bacteria, diazotrophs,  phoD-harbouring taxa, and fungi. Our results have shown varying distance  decay rates of \u03b2-diversity across microbial groups, with soil total  bacteria showing a weaker distance-decay relationship than other groups.  The impact of the species pool on community \u03b2-diversity varied across  microbial groups, with soil total bacteria and diazotrophs being  significantly influenced. While the contributions of specific assembly  processes to community \u03b2-diversity patterns varied among different  microbial groups, significant effects of local community assembly  processes on \u03b2-diversity patterns were consistently observed across all  groups. Homogenous selection and dispersal limitation emerged as crucial  processes for all groups. Precipitation and soil C:P were the key factors  mediating \u03b2-diversity for all groups. This study has substantially  advanced our understanding of how the communities of multiple microbial  groups are structured in desert biocrust systems.", "keywords": ["soil organic carbon", "biological soil crusts", "FOS: Agricultural sciences", "Soil pH"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Xu, Lin", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z08kprrk8"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.z08kprrk8", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.z08kprrk8", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.z08kprrk8"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2024-04-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.10628722", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:58Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-02-21", "title": "Functional traits explain both seedling and adult plant spatial patterns in gypsum annual species", "description": "Abstract<p>   <p>Ecological processes such as seed dispersal or plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant interactions and environmental constraints such as climate or soil heterogeneity are known to influence establishment, and thus the spatial patterns of plant communities and populations. In this study, we hypothesized that key functional traits such as the specific leaf area (SLA), reproductive ratio (reproductive/vegetative biomass), seed mass and maximum plant height would influence the spatial patterns of individual species in annual, gypsophilous plant communities, and that these effects would be modulated by both the soil surface structure (biocrust) and climate (precipitation) conditions.</p>  <p>We mapped the spatial patterns of all plants found in six 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc3\uff97\uffe2\uff80\uff891\uffc2\uffa0m plots (more than 1000 individuals per plot) in both the seedling (autumn) and adult stages (spring) under two biocrust experimental conditions (intact vs. disturbed biocrust) during two consecutive years which were contrasted in term of precipitation (dry year and wet year). To assess the spatial patterns of seedlings and adults, we fitted four different spatial point pattern models (i.e. Poisson, inhomogeneous Poisson, Poisson cluster and inhomogeneous Poisson cluster processes) to each of the 242 populations of the 26 most abundant species that had more than 15 individuals per plot.</p>  <p>Most seedling populations exhibited clustered spatial patterns that persisted in the adult stage, which suggests that short\uffe2\uff80\uff90distance dispersal is an adaptive trait for soil specialists such as gypsophilous plants. One\uffe2\uff80\uff90third of the populations fitted an inhomogeneous model best but the physical structure of the biocrust was not related to them. More importantly, we found a connection between the functional strategies of species and the spatial distribution of plants. In particular, during the dry year, irrespective of the biocrust conditions, species with a high SLA and high Rep/Veg mainly exhibited clustered spatial patterns, whereas low SLA and low Rep/Veg were associated with random distributions. Species with heavy and light seed masses had random and clustered patterns, respectively. In both the dry and wet years, species with lower maximum heights had clustered patterns, whereas taller species exhibited random patterns. In addition, species with heavier seeds and greater maximum heights had the largest cluster sizes.</p>  <p>Our results confirm that the spatial patterns of seedlings and adult plants are significantly determined by the functional strategy of each species.</p>  </p><p>Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.</p", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "point pattern analysis", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "seed mass", "01 natural sciences", "maximum plant height", "biological soil crust", "seed dispersal", "reproductive/vegetative biomass ratio", "gypsophyte", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "specific leaf area"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2435.14304"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10628722"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Functional%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.10628722", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.10628722", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.10628722"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-04-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2764305888", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:25:47Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-10-18", "title": "Application of stable\u2010isotope labelling techniques for the detection of active diazotrophs", "description": "Summary<p>Investigating active participants in the fixation of dinitrogen gas is vital as N is often a limiting factor for primary production. Biological nitrogen fixation is performed by a diverse guild of bacteria and archaea (diazotrophs), which can be free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living or symbionts. Free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living diazotrophs are widely distributed in the environment, yet our knowledge about their identity and ecophysiology is still limited. A major challenge in investigating this guild is inferring activity from genetic data as this process is highly regulated. To address this challenge, we evaluated and improved several 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90based methods for detecting N2 fixation activity (with a focus on soil samples) and studying active diazotrophs. We compared the acetylene reduction assay and the 15N2 tracer method and demonstrated that the latter is more sensitive in samples with low activity. Additionally, tracing 15N into microbial RNA provides much higher sensitivity compared to bulk soil analysis. Active soil diazotrophs were identified with a 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90RNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP approach optimized for environmental samples and benchmarked to 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90DNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP. Lastly, we investigated the feasibility of using SIP\uffe2\uff80\uff90Raman microspectroscopy for detecting 15N\uffe2\uff80\uff90labelled cells. Taken together, these tools allow identifying and investigating active free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living diazotrophs in a highly sensitive manner in diverse environments, from bulk to the single\uffe2\uff80\uff90cell level.</p", "keywords": ["Spectrum Analysis", " Raman", "BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS", "106005 Bioinformatik", "106023 Molekularbiologie", "Nitrogen Fixation", "REVEALS", "FLUORESCENCE", "Research Articles", "Soil Microbiology", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "SPECTROSCOPY", "Bacteria", "Nitrogen Isotopes", "106003 Biodiversity research", "106023 Molecular biology", "GENETIC-REGULATION", "Archaea", "6. Clean water", "SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN", "COMMUNITY", "106003 Biodiversit\u00e4tsforschung", "13. Climate action", "Isotope Labeling", "106022 Microbiology", "NITROGEN-FIXATION", "106005 Bioinformatics", "RIBOSOMAL-RNA", "N-2 FIXATION"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1462-2920.13954"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/2764305888"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "2764305888", "name": "item", "description": "2764305888", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/2764305888"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-12-15T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2907281909", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:25:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-01-03", "title": "Polyphasic evaluation of key cyanobacteria in biocrusts from the most arid region in Europe", "description": "<p>Cyanobacteria are key microbes in topsoil communities that have important roles in preventing soil erosion, carbon and nitrogen fixation, and influencing soil hydrology. However, little is known regarding the identity and distribution of the microbial components in the photosynthetic assemblages that form a cohesive biological soil crust (biocrust) in drylands of Europe. In this study, we investigated the cyanobacterial species colonizing biocrusts in three representative dryland ecosystems from the most arid region in Europe (SE Spain) that are characterized by different soil conditions. Isolated cyanobacterial cultures were identified by a polyphasic approach, including 16S rRNA gene sequencing, phylogenetic relationship determination, and morphological and ecological habitat assessments. Three well-differentiated groups were identified: heterocystous-cyanobacteria (Nostoc commune,Nostoc calcicola,Tolypothrix distortaandScytonema hyalinum), which play an important role in N and C cycling in soil; nonheterocystous bundle-forming cyanobacteria (Microcoleus steenstrupii,Trichocoleus desertorum, andSchizothrixcf. calcicola); and narrow filamentous cyanobacteria (Leptolyngbya frigidaandOculatella kazantipica), all of which are essential genera for initial biocrust formation. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of cyanobacterial species composition in biocrusts from important and understudied European habitats, such as the Mediterranean Basin, a hotspot of biodiversity, where these species are keystone pioneer organisms.</p", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "QH301-705.5", "R", "Biological soil crust", "Soil cyanobacteria", "Biodiversity", "15. Life on land", "Biolog\u00eda y Biomedicina / Biolog\u00eda", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "16S rRNA gene", "Biology (General)", "Phylogenetic relationships", "Biocrusts"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://peerj.com/articles/6169.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/2907281909"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PeerJ", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "2907281909", "name": "item", "description": "2907281909", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/2907281909"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-01-03T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2945826721", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:25:54Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-05-21", "title": "Evidence of functional species sorting by rainfall and biotic interactions: A community monolith experimental approach", "description": "Abstract<p>   <p>Understanding the mechanisms that underlie species assembly is a central concern in community ecology. Abiotic and biotic filters are probabilistic \uffe2\uff80\uff98sieves\uffe2\uff80\uff99 that allow species with certain functional traits to become a part of the community, or not. We manipulated natural plant assemblies in order to identify variations in the timings of biotic and abiotic filters that determine community trait assemblies.</p>  <p>We extracted soil portions when the investigated annual plant community was in its seed phase (\uffe2\uff80\uff98community monolith\uffe2\uff80\uff99), thereby maintaining the structure and similar soil characteristics to the field conditions. Community monoliths were subjected to experimental manipulation in terms of the rainfall timing and amount, and perturbations of the biological soil crust (BSC; intact vs. perturbed). We surveyed the experimental community assembly over time based on the functional diversity by considering important functional traits in different life stages.</p>  <p>We found that autumn droughts acted as abiotic filters by favouring the germination and establishment of species with greater investment in the root biomass. Under severe droughts (66% water reduction), the experimental assemblies were dominated by species with functional traits adapted to water shortage conditions: high leaf dry matter content, low specific leaf area, small individual size, low reproductive ratio and high root:shoot ratio. We identified two roles of BSCs in annual plant species assemblies: (a) as a biotic filter that limited the establishment of species based on seed size, and (b) as a buffer against water stress conditions by reducing soil evapotranspiration.</p>  <p>Synthesis. We demonstrated the importance of the timing and amount of rainfall for shaping annual plant communities, and identified germination filters as the main process that determined community assemblies. Our results suggest that the phenotypic integration of functional traits facilitates resistance to drought during the life cycle. The BSC\uffe2\uff80\uff93annual plant relationship shifted from negative, by acting as a germination filter, to positive, by acting as a buffer in later stages. Climatic fluctuations and fine scale biotic determinants of spatial heterogeneity emerged as sources of changes in the community assembly in time and space to possibly promote species coexistence and trait differences among the communities studied.</p>  </p", "keywords": ["Annual plants", "2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "Drought", "Biotic and abiotic filters", "Community assembly", "annual plant", " biological soil crust", " biotic and abiotic filters", " coexistence", " community assembly", " drought", " functional diversity", " Mediterranean grassland", "Biological soil crusts", "drought", "Functional diversity", "15. Life on land", "functional diversity", "Mediterranean grassland", "01 natural sciences", "6. Clean water", "biological soil crust", "gypsum soil", "annual plant", "13. Climate action", "community assembly", "precipitation seasonality", "Coexistence"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2745.13210"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/2945826721"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "2945826721", "name": "item", "description": "2945826721", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/2945826721"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-06-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10835/7551", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:50Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-06-06", "title": "Spectral Response Analysis: An Indirect and Non-Destructive Methodology for the Chlorophyll Quantification of Biocrusts", "description": "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><article><p>Chlorophyll a concentration (Chla) is a well-proven proxy of biocrust development, photosynthetic organisms\u2019 status, and recovery monitoring after environmental disturbances. However, laboratory methods for the analysis of chlorophyll require destructive sampling and are expensive and time consuming. Indirect estimation of chlorophyll a by means of soil surface reflectance analysis has been demonstrated to be an accurate, cheap, and quick alternative for chlorophyll retrieval information, especially in plants. However, its application to biocrusts has yet to be harnessed. In this study we evaluated the potential of soil surface reflectance measurements for non-destructive Chla quantification over a range of biocrust types and soils. Our results revealed that from the different spectral transformation methods and techniques, the first derivative of the reflectance and the continuum removal were the most accurate for Chla retrieval. Normalized difference values in the red-edge region and common broadband indexes (e.g., normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) were also sensitive to changes in Chla. However, such approaches should be carefully adapted to each specific biocrust type. On the other hand, the combination of spectral measurements with non-linear random forest (RF) models provided very good fits (R2 &gt; 0.94) with a mean root mean square error (RMSE) of about 6.5 \u00b5g/g soil, and alleviated the need for a specific calibration for each crust type, opening a wide range of opportunities to advance our knowledge of biocrust responses to ongoing global change and degradation processes from anthropogenic disturbance.</p></article>", "keywords": ["chlorophyll quantification", "remote sensing", "hyperspectral", "13. Climate action", "Science", "Q", "Biocrusts; biological soil crust; chlorophyll quantification; hyperspectral; random forest; remote sensing", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "random forest", "Biocrusts", "biological soil crust"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/11/1350/pdf"}, {"href": "https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/11/1350/pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10835/7551"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Remote%20Sensing", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10835/7551", "name": "item", "description": "10835/7551", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10835/7551"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-06-05T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.7717/peerj.6169", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:25Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-01-03", "title": "Polyphasic evaluation of key cyanobacteria in biocrusts from the most arid region in Europe", "description": "<p>Cyanobacteria are key microbes in topsoil communities that have important roles in preventing soil erosion, carbon and nitrogen fixation, and influencing soil hydrology. However, little is known regarding the identity and distribution of the microbial components in the photosynthetic assemblages that form a cohesive biological soil crust (biocrust) in drylands of Europe. In this study, we investigated the cyanobacterial species colonizing biocrusts in three representative dryland ecosystems from the most arid region in Europe (SE Spain) that are characterized by different soil conditions. Isolated cyanobacterial cultures were identified by a polyphasic approach, including 16S rRNA gene sequencing, phylogenetic relationship determination, and morphological and ecological habitat assessments. Three well-differentiated groups were identified: heterocystous-cyanobacteria (Nostoc commune,Nostoc calcicola,Tolypothrix distortaandScytonema hyalinum), which play an important role in N and C cycling in soil; nonheterocystous bundle-forming cyanobacteria (Microcoleus steenstrupii,Trichocoleus desertorum, andSchizothrixcf. calcicola); and narrow filamentous cyanobacteria (Leptolyngbya frigidaandOculatella kazantipica), all of which are essential genera for initial biocrust formation. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of cyanobacterial species composition in biocrusts from important and understudied European habitats, such as the Mediterranean Basin, a hotspot of biodiversity, where these species are keystone pioneer organisms.</p", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0301 basic medicine", "0303 health sciences", "QH301-705.5", "R", "Biological soil crust", "Soil cyanobacteria", "Biodiversity", "15. Life on land", "Biolog\u00eda y Biomedicina / Biolog\u00eda", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "16S rRNA gene", "Biology (General)", "Phylogenetic relationships", "Biocrusts"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://peerj.com/articles/6169.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6169"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PeerJ", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.7717/peerj.6169", "name": "item", "description": "10.7717/peerj.6169", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.7717/peerj.6169"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-01-03T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10115/24585", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:32Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-02-21", "title": "Functional traits explain both seedling and adult plant spatial patterns in gypsum annual species", "description": "Abstract<p>   <p>Ecological processes such as seed dispersal or plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant interactions and environmental constraints such as climate or soil heterogeneity are known to influence establishment, and thus the spatial patterns of plant communities and populations. In this study, we hypothesized that key functional traits such as the specific leaf area (SLA), reproductive ratio (reproductive/vegetative biomass), seed mass and maximum plant height would influence the spatial patterns of individual species in annual, gypsophilous plant communities, and that these effects would be modulated by both the soil surface structure (biocrust) and climate (precipitation) conditions.</p>  <p>We mapped the spatial patterns of all plants found in six 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc3\uff97\uffe2\uff80\uff891\uffc2\uffa0m plots (more than 1000 individuals per plot) in both the seedling (autumn) and adult stages (spring) under two biocrust experimental conditions (intact vs. disturbed biocrust) during two consecutive years which were contrasted in term of precipitation (dry year and wet year). To assess the spatial patterns of seedlings and adults, we fitted four different spatial point pattern models (i.e. Poisson, inhomogeneous Poisson, Poisson cluster and inhomogeneous Poisson cluster processes) to each of the 242 populations of the 26 most abundant species that had more than 15 individuals per plot.</p>  <p>Most seedling populations exhibited clustered spatial patterns that persisted in the adult stage, which suggests that short\uffe2\uff80\uff90distance dispersal is an adaptive trait for soil specialists such as gypsophilous plants. One\uffe2\uff80\uff90third of the populations fitted an inhomogeneous model best but the physical structure of the biocrust was not related to them. More importantly, we found a connection between the functional strategies of species and the spatial distribution of plants. In particular, during the dry year, irrespective of the biocrust conditions, species with a high SLA and high Rep/Veg mainly exhibited clustered spatial patterns, whereas low SLA and low Rep/Veg were associated with random distributions. Species with heavy and light seed masses had random and clustered patterns, respectively. In both the dry and wet years, species with lower maximum heights had clustered patterns, whereas taller species exhibited random patterns. In addition, species with heavier seeds and greater maximum heights had the largest cluster sizes.</p>  <p>Our results confirm that the spatial patterns of seedlings and adult plants are significantly determined by the functional strategy of each species.</p>  </p><p>Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.</p", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "point pattern analysis", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "seed mass", "01 natural sciences", "maximum plant height", "biological soil crust", "seed dispersal", "reproductive/vegetative biomass ratio", "gypsophyte", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "specific leaf area"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2435.14304"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10115/24585"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Functional%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10115/24585", "name": "item", "description": "10115/24585", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10115/24585"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-04-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10115/27941", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:32Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-05-21", "title": "Evidence of functional species sorting by rainfall and biotic interactions: A community monolith experimental approach", "description": "Abstract<p>   <p>Understanding the mechanisms that underlie species assembly is a central concern in community ecology. Abiotic and biotic filters are probabilistic \uffe2\uff80\uff98sieves\uffe2\uff80\uff99 that allow species with certain functional traits to become a part of the community, or not. We manipulated natural plant assemblies in order to identify variations in the timings of biotic and abiotic filters that determine community trait assemblies.</p>  <p>We extracted soil portions when the investigated annual plant community was in its seed phase (\uffe2\uff80\uff98community monolith\uffe2\uff80\uff99), thereby maintaining the structure and similar soil characteristics to the field conditions. Community monoliths were subjected to experimental manipulation in terms of the rainfall timing and amount, and perturbations of the biological soil crust (BSC; intact vs. perturbed). We surveyed the experimental community assembly over time based on the functional diversity by considering important functional traits in different life stages.</p>  <p>We found that autumn droughts acted as abiotic filters by favouring the germination and establishment of species with greater investment in the root biomass. Under severe droughts (66% water reduction), the experimental assemblies were dominated by species with functional traits adapted to water shortage conditions: high leaf dry matter content, low specific leaf area, small individual size, low reproductive ratio and high root:shoot ratio. We identified two roles of BSCs in annual plant species assemblies: (a) as a biotic filter that limited the establishment of species based on seed size, and (b) as a buffer against water stress conditions by reducing soil evapotranspiration.</p>  <p>Synthesis. We demonstrated the importance of the timing and amount of rainfall for shaping annual plant communities, and identified germination filters as the main process that determined community assemblies. Our results suggest that the phenotypic integration of functional traits facilitates resistance to drought during the life cycle. The BSC\uffe2\uff80\uff93annual plant relationship shifted from negative, by acting as a germination filter, to positive, by acting as a buffer in later stages. Climatic fluctuations and fine scale biotic determinants of spatial heterogeneity emerged as sources of changes in the community assembly in time and space to possibly promote species coexistence and trait differences among the communities studied.</p>  </p", "keywords": ["Annual plants", "0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Drought", "Biotic and abiotic filters", "Community assembly", "Biological soil crusts", "drought", "Functional diversity", "15. Life on land", "functional diversity", "Mediterranean grassland", "01 natural sciences", "6. Clean water", "biological soil crust", "gypsum soil", "annual plant", "13. Climate action", "community assembly", "precipitation seasonality", "Coexistence"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2745.13210"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10115/27941"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10115/27941", "name": "item", "description": "10115/27941", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10115/27941"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-06-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10261/336363", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:38Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-07-15", "title": "Biocrust science and global change", "description": "Open AccessPeer reviewed", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts", "Lichens", "Climate", "Climate Change", "Publications", "Bryophytes", "Biological soil crusts", "15. Life on land", "Cyanobacteria", "01 natural sciences", "Virtual", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Global environmental change", "http://metadata.un.org/sdg/13", "Desert Climate", "Ecosystem", "Biocrusts", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10261/336363"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10261/336363", "name": "item", "description": "10261/336363", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10261/336363"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-07-15T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2954192991", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:25:54Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-06-06", "title": "Spectral Response Analysis: An Indirect and Non-Destructive Methodology for the Chlorophyll Quantification of Biocrusts", "description": "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><article><p>Chlorophyll a concentration (Chla) is a well-proven proxy of biocrust development, photosynthetic organisms\u2019 status, and recovery monitoring after environmental disturbances. However, laboratory methods for the analysis of chlorophyll require destructive sampling and are expensive and time consuming. Indirect estimation of chlorophyll a by means of soil surface reflectance analysis has been demonstrated to be an accurate, cheap, and quick alternative for chlorophyll retrieval information, especially in plants. However, its application to biocrusts has yet to be harnessed. In this study we evaluated the potential of soil surface reflectance measurements for non-destructive Chla quantification over a range of biocrust types and soils. Our results revealed that from the different spectral transformation methods and techniques, the first derivative of the reflectance and the continuum removal were the most accurate for Chla retrieval. Normalized difference values in the red-edge region and common broadband indexes (e.g., normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) were also sensitive to changes in Chla. However, such approaches should be carefully adapted to each specific biocrust type. On the other hand, the combination of spectral measurements with non-linear random forest (RF) models provided very good fits (R2 &gt; 0.94) with a mean root mean square error (RMSE) of about 6.5 \u00b5g/g soil, and alleviated the need for a specific calibration for each crust type, opening a wide range of opportunities to advance our knowledge of biocrust responses to ongoing global change and degradation processes from anthropogenic disturbance.</p></article>", "keywords": ["chlorophyll quantification", "remote sensing", "hyperspectral", "13. Climate action", "Science", "Q", "Biocrusts; biological soil crust; chlorophyll quantification; hyperspectral; random forest; remote sensing", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "random forest", "Biocrusts", "biological soil crust"]}, "links": [{"href": "http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/11/1350/pdf"}, {"href": "https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/11/1350/pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/2954192991"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Remote%20Sensing", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "2954192991", "name": "item", "description": "2954192991", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/2954192991"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-06-05T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2960475767", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:25:55Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-07-15", "title": "Biocrust science and global change", "description": "Open AccessPeer reviewed", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts", "Lichens", "Climate", "Climate Change", "Publications", "Bryophytes", "Biological soil crusts", "15. Life on land", "Cyanobacteria", "01 natural sciences", "Virtual", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Global environmental change", "http://metadata.un.org/sdg/13", "Desert Climate", "Ecosystem", "Biocrusts", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/2960475767"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "2960475767", "name": "item", "description": "2960475767", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/2960475767"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-07-15T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10486/690821", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:47Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-01-03", "title": "Polyphasic evaluation of key cyanobacteria in biocrusts from the most arid region in Europe", "description": "<p>Cyanobacteria are key microbes in topsoil communities that have important roles in preventing soil erosion, carbon and nitrogen fixation, and influencing soil hydrology. However, little is known regarding the identity and distribution of the microbial components in the photosynthetic assemblages that form a cohesive biological soil crust (biocrust) in drylands of Europe. In this study, we investigated the cyanobacterial species colonizing biocrusts in three representative dryland ecosystems from the most arid region in Europe (SE Spain) that are characterized by different soil conditions. Isolated cyanobacterial cultures were identified by a polyphasic approach, including 16S rRNA gene sequencing, phylogenetic relationship determination, and morphological and ecological habitat assessments. Three well-differentiated groups were identified: heterocystous-cyanobacteria (Nostoc commune,Nostoc calcicola,Tolypothrix distortaandScytonema hyalinum), which play an important role in N and C cycling in soil; nonheterocystous bundle-forming cyanobacteria (Microcoleus steenstrupii,Trichocoleus desertorum, andSchizothrixcf. calcicola); and narrow filamentous cyanobacteria (Leptolyngbya frigidaandOculatella kazantipica), all of which are essential genera for initial biocrust formation. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of cyanobacterial species composition in biocrusts from important and understudied European habitats, such as the Mediterranean Basin, a hotspot of biodiversity, where these species are keystone pioneer organisms.</p", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "QH301-705.5", "R", "Biological soil crust", "Soil cyanobacteria", "Biodiversity", "15. Life on land", "Biolog\u00eda y Biomedicina / Biolog\u00eda", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "16S rRNA gene", "Biology (General)", "Phylogenetic relationships", "Biocrusts"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://peerj.com/articles/6169.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10486/690821"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PeerJ", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10486/690821", "name": "item", "description": "10486/690821", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10486/690821"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-01-03T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10754/685569", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:50Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-11-03", "title": "Environmental micro\u2010niche filtering shapes bacterial pioneer communities during primary colonization of a Himalayas' glacier forefield", "description": "Abstract<p>The pedogenesis from the mineral substrate released upon glacier melting has been explained with the succession of consortia of pioneer microorganisms, whose structure and functionality are determined by the environmental conditions developing in the moraine. However, the microbiome variability that can be expected in the environmentally heterogeneous niches occurring in a moraine at a given successional stage is poorly investigated. In a 50\uffe2\uff80\uff89m2 area in the forefield of the Lobuche glacier (Himalayas, 5050\uffe2\uff80\uff89m above sea level), we studied six sites of primary colonization presenting different topographical features (orientation, elevation and slope) and harbouring greyish/dark biological soil crusts (BSCs). The spatial vicinity of the sites opposed to their topographical differences, allowed us to examine the effect of environmental conditions independently from the time of deglaciation. The bacterial microbiome diversity and their co\uffe2\uff80\uff90occurrence network, the bacterial metabolisms predicted from 16S rRNA gene high\uffe2\uff80\uff90throughput sequencing, and the microbiome intact polar lipids were investigated in the BSCs and the underlying sediment deep layers (DLs). Different bacterial microbiomes inhabited the BSCs and the DLs, and their composition varied among sites, indicating a niche\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific role of the micro\uffe2\uff80\uff90environmental conditions in the bacterial communities' assembly. In the heterogeneous sediments of glacier moraines, physico\uffe2\uff80\uff90chemical and micro\uffe2\uff80\uff90climatic variations at the site\uffe2\uff80\uff90spatial scale are crucial in shaping the microbiome microvariability and structuring the pioneer bacterial communities during pedogenesis.</p", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "Pedogenesis", "0303 health sciences", "Glacier Foreland Succession", "Bacteria", "Biological soil crust", "15. Life on land", "Primary Colonization", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "RNA", " Ribosomal", " 16S", "Glacier Moraines", "Cold Deserts", "Pioneer Bacterial Communities", "Ice Cover", "Soil moisture", "Research Articles", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://air.unimi.it/bitstream/2434/949070/2/Rolli%20et%20al%202022%20Environmental%20micro%e2%80%90niche%20filtering%20shapes%20bacterial%20pioneer%20communities.pdf"}, {"href": "https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/fulltext.aspx?url=302678/40A25368-9064-4886-B8E6-E7942511FA71.pdf&pub_id=302678"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10754/685569"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10754/685569", "name": "item", "description": "10754/685569", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10754/685569"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-11-18T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "11353/10.1603944", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:55Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-01-11", "title": "Distribution of Mixotrophy and Desiccation Survival Mechanisms across Microbial Genomes in an Arid Biological Soil Crust Community", "description": "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><article><p>This study represents a comprehensive community-wide genome-centered metagenome analysis of biological soil crust (BSC) communities in arid environments, providing insights into the distribution of genes encoding different energy generation mechanisms, as well as survival strategies, among populations in an arid soil ecosystem. It reveals the metabolic potential of several uncultured and previously unsequenced microbial genera, families, and orders, as well as differences in the metabolic potential between the most abundant BSC populations and their cultured relatives, highlighting once more the danger of inferring function on the basis of taxonomy.</p></article>", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "BACTERIAL", "dormancy", "Survival", "RUBROBACTER-RADIOTOLERANS", "DIVERSITY", "Biological soil crust", "survival", "Microbiology", "7. Clean energy", "biological soil crust", "03 medical and health sciences", "mixotrophy", "Dormancy", "Mixotrophy", "SPORULATION", "COLORADO PLATEAU", "2. Zero hunger", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "metagenomics", "0303 health sciences", "ARTHROBACTER-RADIOTOLERANS", "15. Life on land", "XYLANOPHILUS", "QR1-502", "SP NOV.", "SURVIVAL", "106022 Microbiology", "RADIATION", "Metagenomics", "MEMBERS", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/mSystems.00786-20"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/11353/10.1603944"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/mSystems", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "11353/10.1603944", "name": "item", "description": "11353/10.1603944", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/11353/10.1603944"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2021-02-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "2158/1145846", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:25:35Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-12-08", "title": "Soil Type and Cyanobacteria Species Influence the Macromolecular and Chemical Characteristics of the Polysaccharidic Matrix in Induced Biocrusts", "description": "Inoculation of soils with cyanobacteria is proposed as a sustainable biotechnological technique for restoration of degraded areas in drylands due to the important role that cyanobacteria and their exopolysaccharides (EPS) play in the environment. So far, few studies have analyzed the macromolecular and chemical characteristics of the polysaccharidic matrix in induced cyanobacterial biocrusts and the scarce existing studies have mainly focused on sandy soil textures. However, the characteristics of the cyanobacterial polysaccharidic matrix may greatly depend on soil type. The objective of this study was to examine the macromolecular distribution and monosaccharidic composition of the polysaccharidic matrix induced by inoculation of two cyanobacterial species common in arid environments, Phormidium ambiguum (non N-fixing) and Scytonema javanicum (N-fixing) in different soil types. S. javanicum promoted a higher release in the soil of the more soluble and less condensed EPS fraction (i.e., the loosely bound EPS fraction, LB-EPS), while P. ambiguum showed a higher release of the less soluble and more condensed EPS fraction (i.e., the tightly bound EPS fraction, TB-EPS). LB-EPSs were mainly composed of low MW molecules (<\u200950\u00a0kDa), while TB-EPSs were mainly composed of high MW molecules (1100-2000\u00a0kDa). The two EPS fractions showed a complex monosaccharidic composition (from 11 to 12 different types of monosaccharides), with glucose as the most abundant monosaccharide, in particular in the poorer soils characterized by lower organic C contents. In more C-rich soils, high abundances of galactose, mannose, and xylose were also found. Low abundance of uronic acids and hydrophobic monosaccharides, such as fucose and rhamnose, was found in the EPS extracted from the inoculated soils. Our results point to the influence of soil type on the macromolecular distribution and monosaccharide composition of the polysaccharidic matrix in induced biocrusts, which is likely to affect biocrust development and their role in soil structure and nutrient cycling in restored dryland soils.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "Soil", "0303 health sciences", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Polysaccharides", " Bacterial", "Biological soil crust; Cyanobacteria inoculation; Loosely bound EPS; Molecular weight; Monosaccharide composition; Tightly bound EPS; Ecology; Evolution; Behavior and Systematics; Ecology; Soil Science", "Desert Climate", "15. Life on land", "Cyanobacteria", "Biological soil crust; Cyanobacteria inoculation; Loosely bound EPS; Molecular weight; Monosaccharide composition; Tightly bound EPS; Ecology", " Evolution", " Behavior and Systematics; Ecology; Soil Science", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://iris.unive.it/bitstream/10278/5089943/1/s00248-018-1305-y.pdf"}, {"href": "http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00248-018-1305-y.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/2158/1145846"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Microbial%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "2158/1145846", "name": "item", "description": "2158/1145846", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/2158/1145846"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-12-08T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "PMC5814836", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:28:20Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-10-18", "title": "Application of stable\u2010isotope labelling techniques for the detection of active diazotrophs", "description": "Summary                   <p>                     Investigating active participants in the fixation of dinitrogen gas is vital as N is often a limiting factor for primary production. Biological nitrogen fixation is performed by a diverse guild of bacteria and archaea (diazotrophs), which can be free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living or symbionts. Free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living diazotrophs are widely distributed in the environment, yet our knowledge about their identity and ecophysiology is still limited. A major challenge in investigating this guild is inferring activity from genetic data as this process is highly regulated. To address this challenge, we evaluated and improved several                     15                     N\uffe2\uff80\uff90based methods for detecting N                     2                     fixation activity (with a focus on soil samples) and studying active diazotrophs. We compared the acetylene reduction assay and the                     15                     N                     2                     tracer method and demonstrated that the latter is more sensitive in samples with low activity. Additionally, tracing                     15                     N into microbial RNA provides much higher sensitivity compared to bulk soil analysis. Active soil diazotrophs were identified with a                     15                     N\uffe2\uff80\uff90RNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP approach optimized for environmental samples and benchmarked to                     15                     N\uffe2\uff80\uff90DNA\uffe2\uff80\uff90SIP. Lastly, we investigated the feasibility of using SIP\uffe2\uff80\uff90Raman microspectroscopy for detecting                     15                     N\uffe2\uff80\uff90labelled cells. Taken together, these tools allow identifying and investigating active free\uffe2\uff80\uff90living diazotrophs in a highly sensitive manner in diverse environments, from bulk to the single\uffe2\uff80\uff90cell level.                   </p", "keywords": ["Spectrum Analysis", " Raman", "BIOLOGICAL SOIL CRUSTS", "106005 Bioinformatik", "106023 Molekularbiologie", "Nitrogen Fixation", "REVEALS", "FLUORESCENCE", "Research Articles", "Soil Microbiology", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "SPECTROSCOPY", "Bacteria", "Nitrogen Isotopes", "106003 Biodiversity research", "106023 Molecular biology", "GENETIC-REGULATION", "Archaea", "6. Clean water", "SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN", "COMMUNITY", "106003 Biodiversit\u00e4tsforschung", "13. Climate action", "Isotope Labeling", "106022 Microbiology", "NITROGEN-FIXATION", "106005 Bioinformatics", "RIBOSOMAL-RNA", "N-2 FIXATION"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1462-2920.13954"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/PMC5814836"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "PMC5814836", "name": "item", "description": "PMC5814836", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PMC5814836"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-12-15T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=biological+soil+crust&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=biological+soil+crust&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=biological+soil+crust&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "last", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (last)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=biological+soil+crust&offset=30", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 30, "numberReturned": 30, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-07-27T13:06:54.405204Z"}