Biological Soil Crust and Vascular Plant Communities in a Sand Savanna of Northwestern Ohio

Abstract

NEHER, D. A., T. L. WALTERS, E. TRAMER, T. R. WEICHT, R. M. VELUCI, K. SAIYA-CORK (Department of Earth, Ecological and Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606) S. WILL-WOLF (Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1381), J. TOPPIN, J. TRAUB (Whitehouse, Ohio 43571-9803) AND JOHANSEN, J. R (Department of Biology, John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio 44118). Biological soil crust and plant communities in a sand savanna of northwestern Ohio. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 130:244-252. 2003. A survey of biological crust components (bryophytes, lichens, chlorophyta, bacteria), soil fauna (nematodes, collembolans, mites) and vascular plants was conducted in a dry sand savanna in northwestern Ohio between 1995 and 2001. In soil, six free-living chlorophytes and seven cyanobacteria taxa were identified. Chlorophyta were more abundant than cyanobacteria with Desmococcus olivaeus and Stichococcus bacillaris being the most common species. For bryophytes, the most common species were Polytrichum piliferum and Ceratodon purpureus, and for lichens, Cladonia species. Notably, we found lichen species in the crusts have chlorophytes not cyanobacteria, as their photobionts. Twenty-seven families and 29 genera of nematodes, and four collembolan species were identified in crust and rhizosphere communities. Autotrophic denitrifying bacteria were not detectable with the method employed. The biological crust occurred among a vascular plant community with Robinia pseudoacacia, Rubus flagellaris, Bromus inermis, and Vicia villosa as the most abundant tree, shrub, graminoid, and non-grass herbaceous plants, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first report of microbial crust community composition in xeric patches of northwestern Ohio. Moreover, our report includes a report of soil nematode or collembolan communities associated with soil biological crust communities.