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Articles | Volume 19, issue 1
Articles | Volume 19, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-19-39-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-19-39-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 19, issue 1
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06 Jun 2019
Standard article | Highlight paper |  | 06 Jun 2019

Unassisted establishment of biological soil crusts on dryland road slopes

Laura Concostrina-Zubiri, Juan M. Arenas, Isabel Martínez, and Adrián Escudero

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Short summary
Can organisms other than vascular plants establish and develop on road slopes? Yes, biological soil crusts (or biocrusts) can. Here, we found that lichen biocrusts are common and relatively abundant in road slopes after ~20 years of construction with no assistance needed. These findings are of critical importance for dryland restoration because biocrusts can speed up ecosystem recovery by stabilizing soil surface, improving soil fertility and facilitating vascular plant establishment.
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Biological soil crusts