Biomineralized soil improves wind erosion tolerance of cyanobacterial
biocrust
- Keiichi Kimura,
- Toshiya Okuro
Keiichi Kimura
The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences / Faculty of Agriculture
Corresponding Author:[email protected]
Author ProfileToshiya Okuro
The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences / Faculty of Agriculture
Author ProfileAbstract
Land degradation is a global problem and effective land restoration
techniques are needed. Biocrust introduction has attracted much
attention because biocrust-forming organisms have a high survival rate
in harsh environments and perform various ecological functions. However,
physical disturbances and low nutrients impede biocrust development. In
degraded areas, soil tackifiers and amendments are often applied before
biocrust inoculation, but optimal methods require further investigation.
This study examined whether biomineralization by ureolytic bacteria, one
soil stabilization method, could facilitate the growth of
biocrust-forming cyanobacteria and biocrust development. We also
investigated whether biomineralization and cyanobacterial inoculation
could improve soil stabilization, hydrology, and photosynthesis activity
compared to the only biocrust introduction. We incubated the biocrusts
on biomineralized sand or bare sand. We measured several indicators of
cyanobacterial growth, biocrust structure development, and ecological
functions during the incubation. The results indicate that although the
biomineralized soil did not facilitate cyanobacterial growth,
infiltration, or photosynthesis activity, it improved the biocrust
thickness and wind erosion tolerance. Our findings indicate biocrusts
with biomineralization would form a more stable soil surface in degraded
land. We also show the different influences of biomineralization among
the target ecological functions, which will help to develop land
restoration methods utilizing biocrusts and biomineralization.