A significant proportion of the Earth's surface is desert or in the process of desertification.
The extreme environmental conditions that characterize these areas result in a surface that …

The cyanobacteria are the most important prokaryotic primary producers on Earth, inhabiting
a great diversity of aquatic and terrestrial environments exposed to light. However, the …

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are common to drylands worldwide. We employed
replicated, spatially nested sampling and 16S rRNA gene sequencing to describe the soil …

Cyanobacteria are a key biotic component as primary producers in biocrusts, topsoil
communities that have important roles in the functioning of drylands. Yet, major knowledge …

Cyanobacteria are among the most important primary producers on the E arth. However, the
evolutionary forces driving cyanobacterial species diversity remain largely enigmatic due to …

The emergence of cyanobacterial species (speciation) is driven by mutation, selection, gene
flow, and geographical and ecological isolation. Population genomics explores the process …

Speciation is a continuous process driven by genetic, geographic, and ecological barriers to
gene flow. It is widely investigated in multicellular eukaryotes, yet we are only beginning to …

The cyanobacteria are an ancient lineage of photo-oxygenic bacteria. Globally responsible
for much of the primary productivity and nitrogen fixation, they are also evolutionarily …

New evidence in aerobiology challenges the assumption that geographical isolation is an
effective barrier to microbial transport. However, given the uncertainty with which …

Cyanobacteria occur worldwide but play an important role in the formation and primary
activity of biological soil crusts (BSCs) in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The cyanobacterial …