A single square inch of ground may contain over a dozen species that work together to store carbon, a complex, tiny, web of interactions that scientists are just beginning to understand. What’s clear, though, is that biocrusts play a key ecological role.
USGS ecologist Sasha Reed explains features of Colorado Plateau biocrusts near Castle Valley on Monday, November 28, 2022.The sandstone towers near Castle Valley glowed as a few rays of evening light cut through the clouds, but Sasha Reed’s eyes were turned to the ground.with the United States Geological Survey , was explaining the complex community of organisms that grow atop soils on the Colorado Plateau.
The biocrusts, which can take decades to form, may seem unexciting, but Reed pointed to signs of a frenzy of life on the soil. “Our biocrusts on the Colorado Plateau are so beautiful,” she said. “They’re so diverse and topographically extreme.” As the climate warms and deserts grow worldwide, that number could increase to 57% by 2100, Reed said. But relatively little is known about how biocrusts will respond to hotter temperatures.At a small research station outside of Castle Valley, scientists like Reed have been working since 2005 to answer questions about how biocrust systems function and to better understand the impacts of climate change on biocrust and plant communities.
Two plots at a biocrust research facility near Castle Valley, where scientists are studying the effects of warming on desert soils. The image on the left shows the peaked, dark biocrust organisms on the control plot, which was not subjected to warming. On the right, an infrared heat lamp has warmed the soil to 4 degrees Celsius above the natural temperature for over a decade, leading to a significant die-off of the biocrust.
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