干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The soil microbial crust develops initially on physical crusts which are mainly generated since wetting and drying, being a recurrent feature in the Quibor arid zone. The microbiotic crust is organic, composed of macro organisms (bryophytes and lichens) and microorganisms (cyanobacteria, fungi algae, etc.); growing on the ground, forming a thickness no greater than 3 mm. The aim of this paper is to show the formation of a microstructure on the soil from microbiotic crust. Anchors structures were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results show a thick organic texture formed by rhizoids as part of rhizines bryophytes and lichens, together bundles of hyphae and cyanobacteria. The micro horizon formed from organic components generates a stable microstructure that helps mitigate soil physical degradation product of erosion. It is proposed to include studies of microbiotic crusts, as biological indicator for evaluation of soil quality.