UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., July 29 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news release:
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Drylands soils are being degraded by human activities and climate change, threatening the thin living layers covering their surface, called biocrusts, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Composed of cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, algae, fungi and bacteria, biocrusts play major roles in storing carbon, cycling nitrogen, preventing erosion and supporting ecosystems. To better understand the status of these complex biological communities, a team led by researchers at Penn State developed a novel approach for assessing the health and function of biocrusts.
In a study recently published in Remote Sensing in Ecology and...