The susceptibility of a land surface to wind erosion is highly sensitive to changes in soil
erodibility. Nonetheless, the performance of wind erosion models continues to be affected by …

Microrganisms such as cyanobacteria have been often considered as exhibiting wide
distribution mainly driven by environmental heterogeneity. Recently, however, new findings …

Drylands occupy large portions of the Earth, and are a key terrestrial biome from the socio-
ecological point of view. In spite of their extent and importance, the impacts of global …

The worldwide phenomenon of shrub encroachment in grass‐dominated dryland
ecosystems is commonly associated with desertification. Studies of the purported …

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are found in all dryland regions of the world, including the polar
regions. They are also known to occur in the southern African region. Although there were a …

Restoring biological soil crusts (biocrusts) in degraded drylands can contribute to recovery
of ecosystem functions that have global implications, including erosion resistance and …

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are known as “ecosystem-engineers” that have important,
multifunctional ecological roles in primary production, in nutrient and hydrological cycles …

Vegetation cover on sand dunes mainly depends on wind power (drift potential—DP) and
precipitation. When this cover decreases below a minimal percentage, dunes will start …

This study was undertaken at Horqin Sand Land, Inner Mongolia, Northern China. Field
samples of biological soil crusts (BSCs) and underlying topsoil (0–5 cm under BSC) were …

Localised patterns of erosion and deposition in vegetated semi-arid rangelands have been
shown to influence ecological change and biogeochemical cycles. In the flat, vegetated …