Biological Soil Crusts: An Organizing Principle in Drylands

Biological soil crusts as a critical zone of globalimportance.- How biological soil crusts became studied as a community.- Fossilcrusts.- Cyanobacteria and algae within biological soil crusts.- Fungi and bacteriawithin biological soil crusts.- Bryophytes within biological soil crusts.-Lichens within biological soil crusts.- Microfauna within biological soilcrusts.- Composition and structure of biological soil crusts.- Controls ondistribution patterns of biological soil crusts at the micro-, macro-, andglobal scale.- Hypolithic communities.- Remote sensing of biological soilcrusts at different scales.- Microstructure and weathering processes withinbiological soil crusts.- Patterns and controls on nitrogen cycling of biologicalsoil crusts.- Carbon budgets of biological soil crusts at micro- meso-, andglobal scales.- Biological soil crusts as soil stabilizers.- Effects ofbiological soil crusts on arid land hydrology.- Response of biological soilcrust organisms to light, temperature, and water conditions.- Interactions ofbiological soil crusts with vascular plants.- Biological soil crusts as model tostudy plant interactions and functional roles.- Effects of disturbance onbiological soil crusts.- Effects of climate change on biological soil crusts.- Naturalrecovery of biological soil crusts after disturbance.- Enhanced recovery ofbiological soil crusts after disturbance.- Synthesis on biological soil crustresearch.