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Biological soil crusts, consisting of cyanobacteria, green algae, lichens, and mosses, are important in stabilizing soils in semi-arid and arid lands. Integrity of these crusts is compromised by compressional disturbances such as foot, vehicle, or livestock traffic. Using a portable wind tunnel, we found threshold friction velocities (TFVs) of undisturbed crusts well above wind forces experienced at these sites; consequently, these soils are not vulnerable to wind erosion. However, recently disturbed soils or soils with less well-developed crusts frequently experience wind speeds that exceed the stability thresholds of the crusts. Crustal biomass is concentrated in the top 3 mm of soils. Sandblasting by wind can...
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Fifteen fires from the Chronosequence dataset (see Knutson et al. 2014) were visited in 2012 and 2013 and surveyed for cover of lichens and mosses. Fires were selected to cover the range of average precipitation for each of three water years following fire, fire severity, time since fire, season of ignition, total acres burned and grazing intensity. Cattle grazing was characterized by distance from water sources for cattle, cow dung density counts and Animal Unit Months from the Rangeland Administration System of the Bureau of Land Management. Fire was characterized by whether or not a site burned, time since fire, the area burned, and an estimated amount of shrub cover consumed by the fire as compared to seemingly...
map background search result map search result map Disturbance characteristics, vegetation and biocrust cover from the northern Great Basin (USA) 2012-2013 Disturbance characteristics, vegetation and biocrust cover from the northern Great Basin (USA) 2012-2013