Water availability is a major limiting factor in desert ecosystems. However, a winter snowfall role in the growth of biological soil crusts is still less investigated. Here, four snow treatments were designed to evaluate the effects of snow depth on photosynthesis and physiological characteristics of biological soil crusts. Results showed that snow strongly affected the chlorophyll fluorescence properties. The increased snow depth led to increased contents of photosynthetic pigments and soluble proteins. However, all biological soil crusts also exhibited a decline in malondialdehyde and soluble sugar contents as snow increased. Results demonstrated that different biological soil crusts exhibited different responses to snow depth treatment due to differences in their morphological characteristics and microhabitat. In addition, interspecies differentiation in response to snow depth treatment might affect the survival of some biological soil crusts. Further, this influence might lead to changes in the structural composition and functional communities of biological soil crusts., R. Hui, R. M. Zhao, L. C. Liu, Y. X. Li, H. T. Yang, Y. L. Wang, M. Xie, X. Q. Wang., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Predicting the effects of increased ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation due to stratospheric ozone depletion on temperate desert ecosystems requires better knowledge of the ecophysiological response of common moss species. The aim of the current work was to determine whether elevated UV-B radiation affected photosynthetic performance and chloroplast ultrastructure of two moss crusts and whether response differences were observed between the crusts. In laboratory experiments, Bryum argenteum and Didymodon vinealis, which show microdistributions and are dominant in soil crusts at the Tengger Desert, Northern China, were subjected to four levels of UV-B radiation of 2.75 (control), 3.08, 3.25, and 3.41 W m-2 for 10 days, simulating 0, 6, 9, and 12% of stratospheric ozone at the latitude of Shapotou, respectively. The results showed that chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters (i.e., the maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, the effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, and photochemical quenching coefficient), pigment contents, soluble protein contents, and the ultrastructure were negatively influenced by elevated UV-B radiation and the degree of detrimental effects significantly increased with the intensity of UV-B radiation. Moreover, results indicated that B. argenteum was probably more sensitive to supplementary UV-B radiation than D. vinealis. Therefore, we propose the use of B. argenteum crusts as a bioindicator of responses to elevated UV-B radiation., R. Hui, X. R. Li, R. L. Jia, L. C. Liu, R. M. Zhao, X. Zhao, Y. P. Wei., and Obsahuje bibliografii