Structure and reactivity of a biological soil crust from a xeric sandy soil in Central Europe

• Main Authors: Hoppert, Michael, Reimer, Rudolph, Kemmling, Anne, Schröder, Annekatrin, Günzl, Bettina, Heinken, Thilo
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Universität Potsdam 2004
• Subjects: n.n.; biological soil crust; desiccation tolerance; electron microscopy; <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i>; <i>Zygogonium ericetorum</i>; Life sciences
• Online Access: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-5872; http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2005/587/

The investigation was designed to explore the structure, composition and activity of a biological soil crust on an acidic, sandy soil from a temperate climate. The crust covers several hundreds of square meters on the hilltop of a large terminal moraine. The conjugate alga <i>Zygogonium ericetorum</i> forms the essential matrix for the crust, a dense web of algal filaments with interspersed lichens and mosses. The crust is composed of three layers, with an uppermost layer consisting nearly entirely of a dense algal mat. In lower layers, a parasitic fungus, penetrating the algal cells, is another important component of the crust community. In this soil crust, photosynthetic and respiratory activity is stabilized at low water activities.