AUTHOR=Schultz Nick L. , Sluiter Ian R. K. , Allen Geoffrey G. , Machado-de-Lima Nathali M. , Muñoz-Rojas Miriam TITLE=Biocrust Amendments to Topsoils Facilitate Biocrust Restoration in a Post-mining Arid Environment JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.882673 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.882673 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=
Soil cryptogamic biocrusts provide many ecological functions in arid zone ecosystems, though their natural reestablishment in disturbed areas is slow. Accelerating reestablishment of biocrusts may facilitate the establishment of vascular plant communities within the timeframes of restoration targets (typically 5–15 years). One technique is to inoculate the soil surface using slurries of biocrust material harvested from another site. However, this is destructive to donor sites, and hence the potential to dilute slurries will govern the feasibility of this practice at large spatial scales. We conducted a replicated experiment on a disturbed mine site to test the individual and combined effects of two strategies for accelerating soil cryptogamic biocrust reestablishment: (1) slurry inoculation using biocrust material harvested from native vegetation; and (2) the use of psyllium husk powder as a source of mucilage to bind the soil surface, and to potentially provide a more cohesive substrate for biocrust development. The experiment comprised 90 experimental plots across six treatments, including different dilutions of the biocrust slurries and treatments with and without psyllium. Over 20 months, the reestablishing crust was dominated by cyanobacteria (including