Geology topics

Anita Antoninka

Publications and source records attributed to Anita Antoninka.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2025

Developing biocrust field cultivation techniques for soil restoration: An assessment of bacterial communities

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a coherent, thin soil surface layer, engineered and inhabited by a diverse community of moss, lichen, cyanobacteria, and other microorganisms. Biocrusts provide critical functions in dryland systems and may be lost from the ecosystem through physical disturbance or other global change drivers. Once biocrusts are lost, natural recovery can occur very slowly. This has led to the development of biocrust rehabilitation strategies, including cultivation of biocrust propagules to inoculate degraded sites. As the need for biocrust restoration grows in scale and across different regions, inoculum cultivation and application methods are being asked to keep up. In this work, we evaluate cyanobacterial community composition and abundance in greenhouse and field cultivation systems, with and without growth substrate and shade treatments. We also consider cultivation of locally and non-locally sourced biocrust inocula at a single cultivation facility on the Colorado Plateau. We found that field cultivation is a viable option for biocrust cultivation. For almost all cyanobacteria, habitat amelioration was necessary for growth in the field. Despite differences in inocula composition following cultivation, restoration outcomes five months after inoculation were poor with no significant increases in cyanobacterial abundance, soil chlorophyll a , or soil exopolysaccharide content. Thus, more work is needed to boost the initial growth and survival of biocrust inocula, regardless of the method of cultivation (i.e., greenhouse or field). Future work focused on assessing opportunities for habitat amelioration during application to improve biocrust establishment during this critical restoration phase would be highly valuable.

Utah↗

USGS2023

Cultivating resilience in dryland soils: An assisted migration approach to biological soil crust restoration

Land use practices and climate change have driven substantial soil degradation across global drylands, impacting ecosystem functions and human livelihoods. Biological soil crusts, a common feature of dryland ecosystems, are under extensive exploration for their potential to restore the stability and fertility of degraded soils through the development of inoculants. However, stressful abiotic conditions often result in the failure of inoculation-based restoration in the field and may hinder the long-term success of biocrust restoration efforts. Taking an assisted migration approach, we cultivated biocrust inocula sourced from multiple hot-adapted sites (Mojave and Sonoran Deserts) in an outdoor facility at a cool desert site (Colorado Plateau). In addition to cultivating inoculum from each site, we created an inoculum mixture of biocrust from the Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, and Colorado Plateau. We then applied two habitat amelioration treatments to the cultivation site (growth substrate and shading) to enhance soil stability and water availability and reduce UV stress. Using marker gene sequencing, we found that the cultivated mixed inoculum comprised both local- and hot-adapted cyanobacteria at the end of cultivation but had similar cyanobacterial richness as each unmixed inoculum. All cultivated inocula had more cyanobacterial 16S rRNA gene copies and higher cyanobacterial richness when cultivated with a growth substrate and shade. Our work shows that it is possible to field cultivate biocrust inocula sourced from different deserts, but that community composition shifts toward that of the cultivation site unless habitat amelioration is employed. Future assessments of the function of a mixed inoculum in restoration and its resilience in the face of abiotic stressors are needed to determine the relative benefit of assisted migration compared to the challenges and risks of this approach.

Arizona, California, Utah↗

USGS2020

The pervasive and multifaceted influence of biocrusts on water in the world’s drylands

The capture and use of water are critically important in drylands, which collectively constitute Earth's largest biome. Drylands will likely experience lower and more unreliable rainfall as climatic conditions change over the next century. Dryland soils support a rich community of microphytic organisms (biocrusts), which are critically important because they regulate the delivery and retention of water. Yet despite their hydrological significance, a global synthesis of their effects on hydrology is lacking. We synthesized 2,997 observations from 109 publications to explore how biocrusts affected five hydrological processes (times to ponding and runoff, early [sorptivity] and final [infiltration] stages of water flow into soil, and the rate or volume of runoff) and two hydrological outcomes (moisture storage, sediment production). We found that increasing biocrust cover reduced the time for water to pond on the surface (−40%) and commence runoff (−33%), and reduced infiltration (−34%) and sediment production (−68%). Greater biocrust cover had no significant effect on sorptivity or runoff rate/amount, but increased moisture storage (+14%). Infiltration declined most (−56%) at fine scales, and moisture storage was greatest (+36%) at large scales. Effects of biocrust type (cyanobacteria, lichen, moss, mixed), soil texture (sand, loam, clay), and climatic zone (arid, semiarid, dry subhumid) were nuanced. Our synthesis provides novel insights into the magnitude, processes, and contexts of biocrust effects in drylands. This information is critical to improve our capacity to manage dwindling dryland water supplies as Earth becomes hotter and drier.

Global Change Biology↗

USGS2020

Biological soil crusts in ecological restoration: Emerging research and perspectives

Drylands encompass over 40% of terrestrial ecosystems and face significant anthropogenic degradation causing a loss of ecosystem integrity, services, and deterioration of social‐ecological systems. To combat this degradation, some dryland restoration efforts have focused on the use of biological soil crusts (biocrusts): complex communities of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes, and other organisms living in association with the top millimeters of soil. Biocrusts are common in many ecosystems and especially drylands. They perform a suite of ecosystem functions: stabilizing soil surfaces to prevent erosion, contributing carbon through photosynthesis, fixing nitrogen, and mediating the hydrological cycle in drylands. Biocrusts have emerged as a potential tool in restoration; developing methods to implement effective biocrust restoration has the potential to return many ecosystem functions and services. Although culture‐based approaches have allowed researchers to learn about the biology, physiology, and cultivation of biocrusts, transferring this knowledge to field implementation has been more challenging. A large amount of research has amassed to improve our understanding of biocrust restoration, leaving us at an opportune time to learn from one another and to join approaches for maximum efficacy. The articles in this special issue improve the state of our current knowledge in biocrust restoration, highlighting efforts to effectively restore biocrusts through a variety of different ecosystems, across scales and utilizing a variety of lab and field methods. This collective work provides a useful resource for the scientific community as well as land managers.

Restoration Ecology↗

USGS2019

Addressing barriers to improve biocrust colonization and establishment in dryland restoration

Methods to reduce soil loss and associated loss of ecosystem functions due to land degradation are of particular importance in dryland ecosystems. Biocrusts are communities of cyanobacteria, lichens, and bryophytes that are vulnerable to soil disturbance, but provide vital ecosystem functions when present. Biocrusts stabilize soil, improve hydrologic function, and increase nutrient and carbon inputs. Methods to reestablish biocrust rapidly, when lost from ecosystems, have the potential to restore important dryland ecosystem functions and thereby increase probability of successful rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to identify habitat ameliorations to enhance the success of biocrust inoculation by: (1) reducing physiological stress on biocrusts and increasing resource availability (using shade, soil surface roughening, and watering), and (2) stabilizing mobile soils (using straw borders, three soil tackifiers [soil stabilizers], and a combination of shade, water, roughening, and tackifier). In the Great Basin Desert on the Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City, we applied field‐harvested biocrust material to experimental plots on coarse‐ and fine‐textured soils with the top 2 cm of soil and biocrust removed. Habitat ameliorations were applied with and without biocrust addition. Shade provision increased biocrust cover 50% over controls. Biocrust cover and soil stability were 65% lower in straw border plots relative to controls. Soil tackifiers, alone and in combination with resource augmentation and stress reduction, did not improve cover and stabilization over inoculated controls. We found variability in recovery by time and between soil types. These results suggest plausible strategies to improve success of biocrust inoculation.

Utah↗

USGS2017

Maximizing establishment and survivorship of field-collected and greenhouse-cultivated biocrusts in a semi-cold desert

Aims Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are soil-surface communities in drylands, dominated by cyanobacteria, mosses, and lichens. They provide key ecosystem functions by increasing soil stability and influencing soil hydrologic, nutrient, and carbon cycles. Because of this, methods to reestablish biocrusts in damaged drylands are needed. Here we test the reintroduction of field-collected vs. greenhouse-cultured biocrusts for rehabilitation. Methods We collected biocrusts for 1) direct reapplication, and 2) artificial cultivation under varying hydration regimes. We added field-collected and cultivated biocrusts (with and without hardening treatments) to bare field plots and monitored establishment. Results Both field-collected and cultivated cyanobacteria increased cover dramatically during the experimental period. Cultivated biocrusts established more rapidly than field-collected biocrusts, attaining ~82% cover in only one year, but addition of field-collected biocrusts led to higher species richness, biomass (as assessed by chlorophyll a) and level of development. Mosses and lichens did not establish well in either case, but late successional cover was affected by hardening and culture conditions. Conclusions This study provides further evidence that it is possible to culture biocrust components from later successional materials and reestablish cultured organisms in the field. However, more research is needed into effective reclamation techniques.

Plant and Soil↗

USGS2015

Production of greenhouse-grown biocrust mosses and associated cyanobacteria to rehabilitate dryland soil function

Mosses are an often-overlooked component of dryland ecosystems, yet they are common members of biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) and provide key ecosystem services, including soil stabilization, water retention, carbon fixation, and housing of N 2 fixing cyanobacteria. Mosses are able to survive long dry periods, respond rapidly to precipitation, and reproduce vegetatively. With these qualities, dryland mosses have the potential to be an excellent dryland restoration material. Unfortunately, dryland mosses are often slow growing in nature, and ex situ cultivation methods are needed to enhance their utility. Our goal was to determine how to rapidly produce, vegetatively, Syntrichia caninervis and S. ruralis , common and abundant moss species in drylands of North America and elsewhere, in a greenhouse. We manipulated the length of hydration on a weekly schedule (5, 4, 3, or 2 days continuous hydration per week), crossed with fertilization (once at the beginning, monthly, biweekly, or not at all). Moss biomass increased sixfold for both species in 4 months, an increase that would require years under dryland field conditions. Both moss species preferred short hydration and monthly fertilizer. Remarkably, we also unintentionally cultured a variety of other important biocrust organisms, including cyanobacteria and lichens. In only 6 months, we produced functionally mature biocrusts, as evidenced by high productivity and ecosystem-relevant levels of N 2 fixation. Our results suggest that biocrust mosses might be the ideal candidate for biocrust cultivation for restoration purposes. With optimization, these methods are the first step in developing a moss-based biocrust rehabilitation technology.

Restoration Ecology↗