<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Power, Sarah N.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thomas, Valerie A.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Salvatore, Mark R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">John E. Barrett</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Habitat suitability of biocrust communities in a cold desert ecosystem</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ecology and Evolution</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">biocrust</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">carbon</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">dryland</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">habitat suitability</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">remote sensing</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">soil ecology</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2024</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">07/2024</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/20457758/14/7</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">14</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;Drylands are unique among terrestrial ecosystems in that they have a significant proportion of primary production facilitated by non-vascular plants such as colonial cyanobacteria, moss, and lichens, i.e., biocrusts, which occur on and in the surface soil. Biocrusts inhabit all continents, including Antarctica, an increasingly dynamic continent on the precipice of change. Here, we describe in-situ field surveying and sampling, remote sensing, and modeling approaches to assess the habitat suitability of biocrusts in the Lake Fryxell basin of Taylor Valley, Antarctica, which is the main site of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research Program. Soils suitable for the development of biocrusts are typically wetter, less alkaline, and less saline compared to unvegetated soils. Using random forest models, we show that gravimetric water content, electrical conductivity, and snow frequency are the top predictors of biocrust presence and biomass. Areas most suitable for the growth of dense biocrusts are soils associated with seasonal snow patches. Using geospatial data to extrapolate our habitat suitability model to the whole basin predicts that biocrusts are present in 2.7 &amp;times; 10&lt;sup&gt;5&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;nbsp;m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; and contain 11&amp;ndash;72 Mg of aboveground carbon, based on the 90% probability of occurrence. Our study illustrates the synergistic effect of combining field and remote sensing data for understanding the distribution and biomass of biocrusts, a foundational community in the carbon balance of this region. Extreme weather events and changing climate conditions in this region, especially those influencing snow accumulation and persistence, could have significant effects on the future distribution and abundance of biocrusts and therefore soil organic carbon storage in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">7</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Power, Sarah N.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Salvatore, Mark R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Eric R. Sokol</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lee F. Stanish</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Borges, Schuyler R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Byron Adams</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">John E. Barrett</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Remotely characterizing photosynthetic biocrust in snowpack-fed microhabitats of Taylor Valley, Antarctica</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Science of Remote Sensing</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctica</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">biocrust</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">carbon</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">reflectance spectroscopy</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">snow</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">soil ecology</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2024</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">02/2024</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266601722400004X</style></url></web-urls></urls><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">100120</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;Microbial communities are the primary drivers of carbon cycling in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Dense microbial mats, consisting mainly of photosynthetic cyanobacteria, occupy aquatic areas associated with streams and lakes. Other microbial communities also occur at lower densities as patchy surface biological soil crusts (hereafter, biocrusts) across the terrestrial landscape. Multispectral satellite data have been used to model microbial mat abundance in high-density areas like stream and lake margins, but no previous studies have investigated the lower detection limits of biocrusts. Here, we describe remote sensing and field-based survey and sampling approaches to study the detectability and distribution of biocrusts in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Using a combination of multi- and hyperspectral tools and spectral linear unmixing, we modeled the abundances of biocrust in eastern Taylor Valley. Our spectral approaches can detect low masses of biocrust material in laboratory microcosms down to biocrust concentrations of 1% by mass. These techniques also distinguish the spectra of biocrust from both surface rock and mineral signatures from orbit. We found that biocrusts are present throughout the soils of eastern Taylor Valley and are associated with diverse underlying soil communities. The densest biocrust communities identified in this study had total organic carbon 5x greater than the content of typical arid soils. The most productive biocrusts were located downslope of melting snowpacks in unique soil ecosystems that are distinct from the surrounding arid landscape. There are similarities between the snowpack and stream sediment communities (high diversity of soil invertebrates) as well as their ecosystem properties (e.g., persistence of liquid water, high transfer of available nutrients, lower salinity from flushing) compared to the typical arid terrestrial ecosystem of the dry valleys. Our approach extends the capability of orbital remote sensing of photosynthetic communities out of the aquatic margins and into the drier soils which comprise most of this landscape. This interdisciplinary work is critical for measuring and monitoring terrestrial carbon stocks and predicting future ecosystem dynamics in this currently water-limited but increasingly dynamic Antarctic landscape, which is particularly climate-sensitive and difficult to access.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract></record></records></xml>