Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are autotrophic communities dominated by cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, mosses and fungi, which have long been acknowledged as one of the important means of desert ecosystems restoration.  

However, despite the important role of BSCs in the soil carbon cycles of desert ecosystem, the responses of soil respiration in biological soil crust-dominated areas to warming are not well understood. 

Recently, a research group from Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated the warming effect on the temporal variation in soil respiration in BSC-dominated areas at the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert in northern China. 

Scientists used open-top chambers to simulate warming in the Shapotou region in the Tengger Desert, and they used an automated soil respiration system to measure the soil respiration rates in moss-dominated crusts. 

The study results showed that 1.5℃ of simulated warming significantly decreased soil respiration, indicating that the inhibition of soil respiration was likely due to the reduction in soil water content at a relatively high temperature. 

Therefore, the accelerated drying effect of warming on soil respiration and diel soil respiration patterns between soil respiration and temperature at different depths should be considered in future soil carbon cycle models for biological soil crust-dominated desert ecosystems. 

The goal of this study was to investigate the expected increases in temperature on soil respiration both diurnally and seasonally in biological soil crust-dominated areas. 

The study result was published in Plant and Soil. 

Contact: 

LI Xinrong 

lxinrong@lzb.ac.cn 

Shapotou Desert Research and Experimental Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China