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Lin K, Jian J, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Li S, Zhao Y, Xu H. Study on Plant-blanket to reduce heavy metal migration caused by precipitation and to improve the soil environment of pyritic tailings. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 939:173376. [PMID: 38795991 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2024] [Revised: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024]
Abstract
The increasing demand for mineral resources due to industrial development has led to significant tailings pollution during the mineral extraction process. In the southwestern region of China, a large amount of pyritic tailings containing pyrite cinder easily leaches heavy metals and other pollutants when exposed to precipitation, resulting in widespread soil contamination. Effective remediation methods are urgently needed to address this issue. This study utilized naturally occurring Plant-blanket formed by the symbiosis of moss and herbaceous plants on pyritic tailings as restoration material. Through leaching experiments and staining tracer techniques, the study investigated the ability of Plant-blanket to reduce the migration of heavy metals from pyrite cinder to soil under the influence of precipitation and its role in improving the soil environment. The results showed that within 12 h, the Plant-blanket could absorb water equivalent to 206.9 % of its own weight and had good water retention ability. It reduced the stained area ratio of soil horizontal and vertical profiles after precipitation leaching by a maximum of 76.08 % and 46.41 %, respectively, and improved the pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), bulk density, and water content of soil at different depths. In addition, after being covered by Plant-blanket, the migration of Cd and Cu was reduced by a maximum of 44.35 % and 55.77 % respectively, and it increased the diversity and abundance of bacterial communities, promoting the recovery of soil microbial ecological functions. These findings indicate that Plant-blanket can regulate water and improve soil environment, and has certain control ability on the migration of Cd and Cu produced by pyritic tailings. Meanwhile, Plant-blanket plays an important role in improving the soil environment in mining areas and promoting ecosystem restoration, providing valuable reference for further exploration of ecological restoration of tailings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kangkai Lin
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Jiannan Jian
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Yumei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Yikai Liu
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Shiyao Li
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, PR China
| | - Yun Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, PR China.
| | - Heng Xu
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environment Protection, Soil ecological protection and pollution control, Sichuan University & Department of Ecology and Environment of Sichuan, Chengdu 61006510, Sichuan, PR China.
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Abstract
Biological soil crusts are thin, inconspicuous communities along the soil atmosphere ecotone that, until recently, were unrecognized by ecologists and even more so by microbiologists. In its broadest meaning, the term biological soil crust (or biocrust) encompasses a variety of communities that develop on soil surfaces and are powered by photosynthetic primary producers other than higher plants: cyanobacteria, microalgae, and cryptogams like lichens and mosses. Arid land biocrusts are the most studied, but biocrusts also exist in other settings where plant development is constrained. The minimal requirement is that light impinge directly on the soil; this is impeded by the accumulation of plant litter where plants abound. Since scientists started paying attention, much has been learned about their microbial communities, their composition, ecological extent, and biogeochemical roles, about how they alter the physical behavior of soils, and even how they inform an understanding of early life on land. This has opened new avenues for ecological restoration and agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ferran Garcia-Pichel
- Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics and School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA;
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3
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Mandakovic D, Aguado-Norese C, García-Jiménez B, Hodar C, Maldonado JE, Gaete A, Latorre M, Wilkinson MD, Gutiérrez RA, Cavieres LA, Medina J, Cambiazo V, Gonzalez M. Testing the stress gradient hypothesis in soil bacterial communities associated with vegetation belts in the Andean Atacama Desert. ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOME 2023; 18:24. [PMID: 36978149 PMCID: PMC10052861 DOI: 10.1186/s40793-023-00486-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Soil microorganisms are in constant interaction with plants, and these interactions shape the composition of soil bacterial communities by modifying their environment. However, little is known about the relationship between microorganisms and native plants present in extreme environments that are not affected by human intervention. Using high-throughput sequencing in combination with random forest and co-occurrence network analyses, we compared soil bacterial communities inhabiting the rhizosphere surrounding soil (RSS) and the corresponding bulk soil (BS) of 21 native plant species organized into three vegetation belts along the altitudinal gradient (2400-4500 m a.s.l.) of the Talabre-Lejía transect (TLT) in the slopes of the Andes in the Atacama Desert. We assessed how each plant community influenced the taxa, potential functions, and ecological interactions of the soil bacterial communities in this extreme natural ecosystem. We tested the ability of the stress gradient hypothesis, which predicts that positive species interactions become increasingly important as stressful conditions increase, to explain the interactions among members of TLT soil microbial communities. RESULTS Our comparison of RSS and BS compartments along the TLT provided evidence of plant-specific microbial community composition in the RSS and showed that bacterial communities modify their ecological interactions, in particular, their positive:negative connection ratios in the presence of plant roots at each vegetation belt. We also identified the taxa driving the transition of the BS to the RSS, which appear to be indicators of key host-microbial relationships in the rhizosphere of plants in response to different abiotic conditions. Finally, the potential functions of the bacterial communities also diverge between the BS and the RSS compartments, particularly in the extreme and harshest belts of the TLT. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we identified taxa of bacterial communities that establish species-specific relationships with native plants and showed that over a gradient of changing abiotic conditions, these relationships may also be plant community specific. These findings also reveal that the interactions among members of the soil microbial communities do not support the stress gradient hypothesis. However, through the RSS compartment, each plant community appears to moderate the abiotic stress gradient and increase the efficiency of the soil microbial community, suggesting that positive interactions may be context dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dinka Mandakovic
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Bioinformatic and Gene Expression Laboratory, INTA-Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology and Environment, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
| | - Constanza Aguado-Norese
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Bioinformatic and Gene Expression Laboratory, INTA-Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Beatriz García-Jiménez
- Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)/Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- Present Address: Biome Makers Inc., West Sacramento, CA USA
| | - Christian Hodar
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Bioinformatic and Gene Expression Laboratory, INTA-Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jonathan E. Maldonado
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Bioinformatic and Gene Expression Laboratory, INTA-Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química y Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, 9170022 Santiago, Chile
| | - Alexis Gaete
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Bioinformatic and Gene Expression Laboratory, INTA-Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mauricio Latorre
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Laboratorio de Bioingeniería, Instituto de Ciencias de La Ingeniería, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua, Chile
| | - Mark D. Wilkinson
- Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)/Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rodrigo A. Gutiérrez
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Instituto de Biología Integrativa, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Lohengrin A. Cavieres
- Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), 4070386 Concepción, Chile
- Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, 4070386 Concepción, Chile
| | - Joaquín Medina
- Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)/Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Verónica Cambiazo
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Bioinformatic and Gene Expression Laboratory, INTA-Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mauricio Gonzalez
- Millennium Institute Center for Genome Regulation, Santiago, Chile
- Bioinformatic and Gene Expression Laboratory, INTA-Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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Zhang Y, Tariq A, Hughes AC, Hong D, Wei F, Sun H, Sardans J, Peñuelas J, Perry G, Qiao J, Kurban A, Jia X, Raimondo D, Pan B, Yang W, Zhang D, Li W, Ahmed Z, Beierkuhnlein C, Lazkov G, Toderich K, Karryeva S, Dehkonov D, Hisoriev H, Dimeyeva L, Milko D, Soule A, Suska-Malawska M, Saparmuradov J, Bekzod A, Allin P, Dieye S, Cissse B, Whibesilassie W, Ma K. Challenges and solutions to biodiversity conservation in arid lands. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 857:159695. [PMID: 36302433 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The strategic goals of the United Nations and the Aichi Targets for biodiversity conservation have not been met. Instead, biodiversity has continued to rapidly decrease, especially in developing countries. Setting a new global biodiversity framework requires clarifying future priorities and strategies to bridge challenges and provide representative solutions. Hyper-arid, arid, and semi-arid lands (herein, arid lands) form about one third of the Earth's terrestrial surface. Arid lands contain unique biological and cultural diversity, and biodiversity loss in arid lands can have a disproportionate impact on these ecosystems due to low redundancy and a high risk of trophic cascades. They contain unique biological and cultural diversity and host many endemic species, including wild relatives of key crop plants. Yet extensive agriculture, unsustainable use, and global climate change are causing an irrecoverable damage to arid lands, with far-reaching consequences to the species, ground-water resources, ecosystem productivity, and ultimately the communities' dependant on these systems. However, adequate research and effective policies to protect arid land biodiversity and sustainability are lacking because a large proportion of arid areas are in developing countries, and the unique diversity in these systems is frequently overlooked. Developing new priorities for global arid lands and mechanisms to prevent unsustainable development must become part of public discourse and form the basis for conservation efforts. The current situation demands the combined efforts of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and local communities to adopt a socio-ecological approach for achieving sustainable development (SDGs) in arid lands. Applying these initiatives globally is imperative to conserve arid lands biodiversity and the critical ecological services they provide for future generations. This perspective provides a framework for conserving biodiversity in arid lands for all stakeholders that will have a tangible impact on sustainable development, nature, and human well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanming Zhang
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China.
| | - Akash Tariq
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China; Cele National Station of Observation and Research for Desert-Grassland Ecosystems, Cele 848300, China
| | - Alice C Hughes
- Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China
| | - Deyuan Hong
- Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Fuwen Wei
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hang Sun
- Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China
| | - Jordi Sardans
- CSIC, Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Josep Peñuelas
- CSIC, Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Gad Perry
- Department of Natural Resource Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, USA
| | - Jianfang Qiao
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China
| | - Alishir Kurban
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China; Sino-Belgian Joint Laboratory for Geo-Information, Urumqi 830011, China
| | - Xiaoxia Jia
- Science Technology Innovation Unit, Secretariat of the UNCCD, Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Borong Pan
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China
| | - Weikang Yang
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China
| | - Daoyuan Zhang
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China
| | - Wenjun Li
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China
| | - Zeeshan Ahmed
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China
| | | | - Georgy Lazkov
- Institute of Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
| | - Kristina Toderich
- International Platform for Dryland Research and Education, University of Tottori, Tottori, Japan
| | | | - Davron Dehkonov
- Institute of Botany, Academy Sciences of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
| | - Hikmat Hisoriev
- Flora and Systematic Botany Department Institute of Botany, Plant Physiology and Genetics, Tajikistan National Academy of Sciences, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
| | - Liliya Dimeyeva
- Laboratory of Geobotany, Institute of Botany & Phytointroduction, Almaty, Kazakhstan
| | - Dmitry Milko
- Institute of Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
| | - Ahmedou Soule
- Research Center for the Valorization of Biodiversity, Nouakchott, Mauritania
| | - Malgozhata Suska-Malawska
- International Platform for Dryland Research and Education, University of Tottori, Tottori, Japan; Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jumamurat Saparmuradov
- Department of Environmental Protection and Hydrometeorology, Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
| | - Alilov Bekzod
- Institute of Botany, Academy Sciences of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
| | - Paul Allin
- Transfrontier Africa, Hoedspruit, South Africa
| | - Sidy Dieye
- Transfrontier Africa, Hoedspruit, South Africa
| | - Birane Cissse
- Cheikh Anta DIOP University of Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
| | | | - Keping Ma
- Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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5
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Wang W, Li MY, Zhou R, Mo F, Wang BZ, Zhu L, Tao HY, Zhu Y, Wang WL, Zhao ZY, Xiong YC. Moss-dominated biocrust-based biodiversity enhances carbon sequestration via water interception and plant-soil-microbe interactions. iScience 2022; 26:105773. [PMID: 36590166 PMCID: PMC9800303 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated a nature-based solution (NbS) via incorporating biocrust into alfalfa-maize intercropping system to test carbon sequestration in seriously eroded agricultural soils. Field investigation showed that the NbS (moss-dominated biocrust + intercropping) massively lowered surface soil erosion by 94.5% and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) loss by 94.7 and 96.8% respectively, while promoting rainwater interception by 82.2% relative to bare land (CK). There generally existed positive interactions between biocrust and cropping in the integrated standing biodiversity system. Enhanced plant biomass input into soils substantially promoted soil fungal community diversity and abundance under NbS (p < 0.05). This enabled NbS to evidently improve soil macroaggregate proportion and mean weight diameter. Critically, topsoil carbon storage was increased by 2.5 and 10.7%, compared with CK and pure intercropping (p < 0.05). Conclusively, the standing diversity under such NbS fostered soil C sequestration via water interception and plant-soil-microbe interactions in degraded agricultural soils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Meng-Ying Li
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Rui Zhou
- School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Fei Mo
- College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Bao-Zhong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Li Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Hong-Yan Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Ying Zhu
- Institute of Biology, Gansu Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Wen-Li Wang
- School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
| | - Ze-Ying Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - You-Cai Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China,Corresponding author
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6
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Díaz-Martínez P, Panettieri M, García-Palacios P, Moreno E, Plaza C, Maestre FT. Biocrusts Modulate Climate Change Effects on Soil Organic Carbon Pools: Insights From a 9-Year Experiment. Ecosystems 2022; 26:585-596. [PMID: 37179798 PMCID: PMC10167156 DOI: 10.1007/s10021-022-00779-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that warming associated with climate change is decreasing the total amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) in drylands, although scientific research has not given enough emphasis to particulate (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) pools. Biocrusts are a major biotic feature of drylands and have large impacts on the C cycle, yet it is largely unknown whether they modulate the responses of POC and MAOC to climate change. Here, we assessed the effects of simulated climate change (control, reduced rainfall (RE), warming (WA), and RE + WA) and initial biocrust cover (low (< 20%) versus high (> 50%)) on the mineral protection of soil C and soil organic matter quality in a dryland ecosystem in central Spain for 9 years. At low initial biocrust cover levels, both WA and RE + WA increased SOC, especially POC but also MAOC, and promoted a higher contribution of carbohydrates, relative to aromatic compounds, to the POC fraction. These results suggest that the accumulation of soil C under warming treatments may be transitory in soils with low initial biocrust cover. In soils with high initial biocrust cover, climate change treatments did not affect SOC, neither POC nor MAOC fraction. Overall, our results indicate that biocrust communities modulate the negative effect of climate change on SOC, because no losses of soil C were observed with the climate manipulations under biocrusts. Future work should focus on determining the long-term persistence of the observed buffering effect by biocrust-forming lichens, as they are known to be negatively affected by warming. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10021-022-00779-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paloma Díaz-Martínez
- Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias (ICA), CSIC, Serrano 115 bis, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - Marco Panettieri
- Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias (ICA), CSIC, Serrano 115 bis, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Eduardo Moreno
- Departamento de Química Agrícola y Bromatología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - César Plaza
- Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias (ICA), CSIC, Serrano 115 bis, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando T. Maestre
- Instituto Multidisciplinar Para el Estudio del Medio “Ramón Margalef”, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
- Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
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Coverage and Rainfall Response of Biological Soil Crusts Using Multi-Temporal Sentinel-2 Data in a Central European Temperate Dry Acid Grassland. REMOTE SENSING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/rs13163093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are thin microbiological vegetation layers that naturally develop in unfavorable higher plant conditions (i.e., low precipitation rates and high temperatures) in global drylands. They consist of poikilohydric organisms capable of adjusting their metabolic activities depending on the water availability. However, they, and with them, their ecosystem functions, are endangered by climate change and land-use intensification. Remote sensing (RS)-based studies estimated the BSC cover in global drylands through various multispectral indices, and few of them correlated the BSCs’ activity response to rainfall. However, the allocation of BSCs is not limited to drylands only as there are areas beyond where smaller patches have developed under intense human impact and frequent disturbance. Yet, those areas were not addressed in RS-based studies, raising the question of whether the methods developed in extensive drylands can be transferred easily. Our temperate climate study area, the ‘Lieberoser Heide’ in northeastern Germany, is home to the country’s largest BSC-covered area. We applied a Random Forest (RF) classification model incorporating multispectral Sentinel-2 (S2) data, indices derived from them, and topographic information to spatiotemporally map the BSC cover for the first time in Central Europe. We further monitored the BSC response to rainfall events over a period of around five years (June 2015 to end of December 2020). Therefore, we combined datasets of gridded NDVI as a measure of photosynthetic activity with daily precipitation data and conducted a change detection analysis. With an overall accuracy of 98.9%, our classification proved satisfactory. Detected changes in BSC activity between dry and wet conditions were found to be significant. Our study emphasizes a high transferability of established methods from extensive drylands to BSC-covered areas in the temperate climate. Therefore, we consider our study to provide essential impulses so that RS-based biocrust mapping in the future will be applied beyond the global drylands.
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