Great Basin Naturalist Volume 53 Number 1 Article 11 4-2-1993 Full Issue, Vol. 53 No. 1 Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation (1993) "Full Issue, Vol. 53 No. 1," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 53 : No. 1 , Article 11. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol53/iss1/11 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. dek90690aekdekamk 90690 T H E GREAT BASIN naturalistnaturalnatufalNATufAlfawraw ls A VOLUME 53 NQN I1 MARCH 1993 BRIGHAM YOUNG university qmwqmp GREAT BASIN naturalist editor JAMES R BARNES 290 MLBM Brigbrighamliamllamilam young university provo utah 84602 associate editors MICHAEL A BORERSBONVERS BRIAN A malberMALRERMAURER blandy experimental farm university of department ofot zoology bnghainbrigharnBrigharn young university virginia box 171755 boyce virginia 22620 provo utah 84602 J R CMIAIHNCALLAHAN JIMMIEJIMMIF R PARRISH museum of southwestern biologybloBiolog109 universitvuniveisitvuniversity of BIOWESTBIO WEST inc 1063 west 1400 north logan new mexico albuquerque new mexico utah 84321 mailing address box 3140 hemethernet california 92546 PAUpulttueilerL T TU E LLE R department of range wildlife and forestry JEFleejeeJEANNE C CHAMBERS unnersitvuniversitvuniversity of nevada reno 1000 valleyvailey roa USDA forest sebleesen iceieelee research umversituniversity of ne- reno nenevadaada 89512 vada reno 920 valley road reno nevada 89512 ROBERT C WIIITMOREWHITMORE JEFFREY R JHASEJOHANSEN division of Forestforestryrv box 6125 west virginia unium department of biologybloBiolog109 john carrolcarroicarroll university versitversiensi Morganmorgantowntown west virginia 26506 6125 university heights ohio 44118 pulPUIPAUL C MARSH center for environmental studies anonaarizona state universituniversiaUniveruniversitysit 7 tempe anonaarizona 85287 editorial board richard W bainnannbaurnannbaurmannBainBaurnann chairman zoology H duane smith zoology clayton M white zoology jerianlenlerljenjerijerllerlan an T flinders botany and range science william hess botanabotanvbotariv and range science all are at brigham young university ex officio editorial board members include clayton S huber dean college of biological and agricultural sciences norman A darais director university publications james R bamesbarnes editor great basin naturalist the great basin naturalist foundedhounded in 1939 is published quarterly by brigham young university unpublished manuscripts that further our biological understanding of the great basin and surroundingsurroundingareasareas in v estemwestern north america are accepted for publication subscriptions annual subscriptions to the great bainbasin naturalist for 1993 are 25 for individual subscribers 15 for student and erneeventuserneritusementusritus subscriptions and 40 for institutions outside the united states 30 20 and 45 respectively the price of single issues is 12 all back issues are inm print and available for sale all matters pertaining tot subscriptions back issues or other business should be directed to the editor great basin naturalist 290mlbm290igo MLBM brigham young universityumaumv ersityerdity provo UT 84602 scholarly exchanges libraries or other organizations interested in obtaining the great basin natu ralistcalist through a continuing exchange of scholarly publications should contact the exchange libllibrarianLibi anan harold B lee library brigham young universityunixuniv ersitv provo UT 84602 editorial production staff joanne abel technical editor jan spencer assistant to the editor natalie miles production assistant COPcoptightcopvti2htTight 0 19931093 byb brighamBrighainalndin youngoungaunguung universeUniver sihsim ISSN 00173610017 361 officialil publication date 2 april 1993 4934 93 750 464 great basin naturalist PUBLISHED ATT PROVOPRO 0 UTAH BY BRIGHAM YOUNG universityUNIERSITY ISSN 001736140017 3614 VOLUME 53 31 maroMARCMARCH H 1993 no I1 great basin naturalist 531331531 appp 111 41 introduction TO THE SYMPOSIUM ON SOIL CRUST communities limlarnlard L st clair and jeffrejeffrey R johansen 2 ABSTRYABSIRUTABSIR UTr soisolsoilsoli crust communities in semiaridseiniaridarld and andarid lands around theworldthe world haehave recededreceived increasing attention in the past totwot wo decades A symposium on their ecology was presented at thetlletile annual inelnemeetingeting otof the american bryological and lichenological society held in 1991 in san antonio texas an introduction to the topic and an overviewbenieoenieoebienieble of the papers appearing in the proceedings volume are gienglengiven inm this prologue keykdjilordnordswords cryptoaiiitccryptogainic enistscrustscrnsts miliohioticinicrobiotic crusts inicianicimicrophyticop1njtic crusts tinitinianclsemiaddanciancl ecosystems alacdiacalgae crust lichen anistcnistcnisf mossMIOSS crust in many arid and semiarid regions of the ferns and fern allies not components of soil world the surface soil is consolidated into a thin crusts and excludes cyanobacteria and fungi crust by microorganisms lichens and bryo not plants mieroMicromicronoralmicrofloralnorainoralfloral crust loope and gif- phytespaytes soil crusts have varying iiiierotopogramicrotopogra ford 1972 microphticmicrophvticmicrophytic crust west 1990 mi phy some are flattened polygonal and possess crocrobioticbiotic crust and cryptocryptobioticbiotic crust belnap a rough undulating surface others are 1993 are other epithets that have been pro- pediceled all soil crust communities contain a posed cryptogamicCrypto garnic crust will likely persist for microflora of cvanobacteriacyanobacteria bacteria eu some time because of its wide usage and histori- karyotickarykaryotinotic algae aidaldand fungi well developed soil cal precedence of the more recent terinsterms we crusts also contain lichens andor bryophytes feel that microbiotic crust is the most accurate soil crusts of biotic origin have been known and recommend its usage under a variety of names raincrustRaincrust was one of increasing evidence indicates that microbimicrobe the first terms used fletcher and martin 1948 otic crusts play several vital roles in arid and but has been abandoned because of confusion semiarid rangeland ecosystems the most im- with raincrustsraincrusts of nonnonbioticbiotic origin many re- portant role likely is stabilization of soil surfaces searchers designate the crust by its dominant and consequent reduction of soil erosion sup- life form ie algal crust lichen crust or moss port for this hypothesis has been gathered by crust cryptogamic crust a tentenntermn coined by har several workers blackburn 1975 booth 1941 per kleiner and harper 1972 has been the fletcher and martin 1948 loope and gifford most widely used terinterm during the last 20 years 1972 mackenzie and pearson 1979 in some some researchers have been dissatisfied with instances microbiotic crusts improve seedling the term cryptogamic crust because cryptogamscryptocryptogramsgams establishment by providing moist sites in the are plants without seeds a group that includes cracks and complex topography of the crusts departmentent 413ota413of botimbocimota and rdiltyrang sheswscienceselencee Brigbnghainbrighainhain dolingyoung Unkerlniveisihsity prooprovo utah s4n2 2 dpatapat swe 4r2 dparfinentepartiikntolofffiolopBIHbig john carroll lnixcrsihunixuniv sity Univeruimcrsihuniversitiuniversitysittsiti heightsI1 ohio 44118441 IS I1 2 greafGREATRE vr BASIN naturalist volumeVoluine 53 eckert et al 1986 st clair et al 1984 soil soils with high electrical conductivitynvereconductivity wereNvere moremope have effects on infiltration and it likely to develop visible crust features A few crusts varying71 is unclear whether they improve or worsen workers have studied recovery ofofcyanobacteriacanocanobacteriaeano bacteria waterwaiter relations in the soil harper and marble lichens and mosses following disturbance an- 1988 west 1990 derson harper and rusliforthruslifortli 1982 johansen probably thetiie second most important role and st clair 1986 johansen et al 1982 1984 microbiotic crusts play is the improvement of these studies indicate that algal recovery occurs soil fertility both the freeree living and lichenized before lichen and moss recovery I1 and that the cvanobacteriacyanobacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen in sicrsacrsig process of full reconeiarecovery takes many vearsyears st nificantnificant aniamountsounts leffjeffjeffriesfiesmies et al 1992 klubek clair et al 1986 demonstrated that recovery and skujins 1980 rychert et al 1978 west and can be accelerated through addition of crapcryp skujins 1977 furthermore the crusts contrib- crainictogamictotocrainic amendments despite these studies ute to soil organic matter through prinprimaryiarylary pro our current understanding of recovery of micro ducthiducthitvductilityductivitytv of the evanoevanobacteriacyanobacteriabacteria and algae jeffjeffriesfiesmies biotic crusts is very limited et al in cresspress tfiroiurhthrough contributions oforganic microbiotic soil crusts of andaridanidannd and semiarid material and reduced erosion of silts and clays rangelands have received considerable atten cation exchange capacity may be higher in tion in the literature thevhavethey have been the subject crusted soils of no fewer than six reviews in the past