Variations in the coverage of biological soil crusts along an aridity gradient in the central-west Argentina

VENTO, B.; NAVAS ROMERO, A.L.; MARTÍNEZ CARRETERO, E.E.; NAVAS ROMERO, A.L.; MARTÍNEZ CARRETERO, E.E.; HERRERA MORATTA, M.A.; RODRIGUEZ R.; HERRERA MORATTA, M.A.; RODRIGUEZ R.; VENTO, B.

ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY

GAUTHIER-VILLARS/EDITIONS ELSEVIER

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2020 vol. 109

1146-609X

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) play a fundamental role in arid and semiarid areas of South America. Nevertheless,little attention has been paid to the distribution and coverage of them, and studies about biocrusts arestill scarce especially in Argentina. The goal of this contribution was to analyze the coverage of biocrusts andtheir main biological components along an aridity gradient in the central-west Argentina. The coverage percentageof each component was recorded using the point-quadrat method in transects along a gradient consistingof three bioclimatic sites: semiarid, arid, and hyperarid. The diversity of components in biocrusts was recorded ineach studied site. The semiarid site had the highest record of species followed by the arid and hyperarid site. Thehyperarid site had the highest record of cyanobacteria species and the semiarid site of lichens. The arid site wasthe system with the highest coverage of biocrusts followed by the hyperarid site. The semiarid site presented thelowest value of coverage. Cyanobacteria were the dominant group in the hyperarid site. Additionally, cyanobacteriatogether with lichens were dominant in the arid site. The coverage of the studied organisms showedvariations in the semiarid site. Results found in this contribution supported the idea that the coverage and organismsin biocrusts showed changes along an aridity gradient. Differences about the dominance of species andthe coverage of biocrusts could be reflected in the functioning role of them in the different sites.