Abstract
Biocrusts are associations of various prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms in the top millimeters of soil, which can be found in every climate zone on Earth. They stabilize soils and introduce carbon and nitrogen into this compartment. The worldwide occurrence of biocrusts was proven by numerous studies in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America, leaving South America understudied. Using an integrative approach, which combines morphological and molecular characters (small subunit rRNA and ITS region), we examined the diversity of key biocrust photosynthetic organisms at four sites along the latitudinal climate gradient in Chile. The most northern study site was located in the Atacama Desert (arid climate), followed by open shrubland (semiarid climate), a dry forest region (Mediterranean climate) and a mixed broad leaved-coniferous forest (temperate climate) in the south. The lowest species richness was recorded in the desert (18 species), whereas the highest species richness was observed in the Mediterranean zone (40 species). Desert biocrusts were composed exclusively of single-celled Chlorophyta algae, followed by cyanobacteria. Chlorophyta, Streptophyta and cyanobacteria dominated semiarid biocrusts, whereas Mediterranean and temperate Chilean biocrusts were composed mostly of Chlorophyta, Streptophyta and Ochrophyta. Our investigation of Chilean biocrust suggests high biodiversity of South American biocrust phototrophs.
Highlights
Biological soil crusts are top-soil communities composed of many groups of organisms: bacteria, cyanobacteria, microalgae, microfungi, mosses, lichens, liverworts, protists and invertebrates [1]
Using an integrative approach, which combines morphological and molecular characters, we examined the diversity of key biocrust photosynthetic organisms at four sites along the latitudinal climate gradient in Chile
It should be taken into account that in our study community composition and species richness assessment is based on the culture-dependent approach, which can underestimate algal and cyanobacterial diversity in natural communities
Summary
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are top-soil communities composed of many groups of organisms: bacteria, cyanobacteria, microalgae, microfungi, mosses, lichens, liverworts, protists and invertebrates [1]. One of the crucial factors for the ecosystem’s stability and productivity is the variety of taxa in a natural community. Since phototrophic microorganisms have different, species-specific ecophysiological requirements, i.e., different tolerances against environmental factors, with higher biodiversity the community will have broader tolerance to various abiotic conditions. A higher number of species can simultaneously provide multiple functions in a biocrust, which will result in the more productive community [6,7]. Higher diversity of organisms promotes the resilience of biocrusts to environmental changes without losing the potential to recover to an initial state, which in turn increases the ecosystem’s resilience and recovery potential [9]
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