In drylands,biocrusts play crucial roles in regulating ecosystem functions.The study was conducted in the hilly rangelands of the semi-arid northern Negev of Israel,where we assessed the visual,morphological,spectral,...In drylands,biocrusts play crucial roles in regulating ecosystem functions.The study was conducted in the hilly rangelands of the semi-arid northern Negev of Israel,where we assessed the visual,morphological,spectral,and soil properties of livestock trampling routes and inter-route spaces in northern and southern facing hillslopes.Overall,both hillslope aspects were visually similar,whereas the ground surface of the routes was brighter(74.4%were characterized as having a'light'color)than the inter-route spaces(86.8%were characterized as having a'dark'color).These observations were supported by morphological identification of biocrust composition,which was dominated by cyanobacteria(67%)in the routes,and by mixed cyanobacteria/moss(56%)in the inter-routes.Mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)was 24%higher in the inter-routes,while the mean Brightness Index(BI)was 12%higher in the routes.At the same time,the mean Crust Index(CI)was identical in the two microhabitats.Soil quality index(SQI),calculated based on the(pedoderm)soil properties of the two microhabitats,was 6%greater in the inter-routes than in the routes.This study suggests that recurrent trampling exacerbates soil compaction and shearing along the routes,thus preventing the successional development of complex biocrust compositions.展开更多
文摘In drylands,biocrusts play crucial roles in regulating ecosystem functions.The study was conducted in the hilly rangelands of the semi-arid northern Negev of Israel,where we assessed the visual,morphological,spectral,and soil properties of livestock trampling routes and inter-route spaces in northern and southern facing hillslopes.Overall,both hillslope aspects were visually similar,whereas the ground surface of the routes was brighter(74.4%were characterized as having a'light'color)than the inter-route spaces(86.8%were characterized as having a'dark'color).These observations were supported by morphological identification of biocrust composition,which was dominated by cyanobacteria(67%)in the routes,and by mixed cyanobacteria/moss(56%)in the inter-routes.Mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)was 24%higher in the inter-routes,while the mean Brightness Index(BI)was 12%higher in the routes.At the same time,the mean Crust Index(CI)was identical in the two microhabitats.Soil quality index(SQI),calculated based on the(pedoderm)soil properties of the two microhabitats,was 6%greater in the inter-routes than in the routes.This study suggests that recurrent trampling exacerbates soil compaction and shearing along the routes,thus preventing the successional development of complex biocrust compositions.
