These results open the door for the use of continuous chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements, which are becoming increasingly available (e.g. Pintado et al. 2010; Büdel et al. 2014), to estimate the productivity of biocrusts, an important process that, however, is difficult to measure in the field (Raggio et al. 2014). The last two articles of this special issue are devoted to two key biocrust constituents: cyanobacteria

and green algae. Williams et al. (2014) studied how cyanobacteria responded to rehydration during the dry season in the Boodjamulla National Park (Australia). They found that cyanobacteria did not recover PSII activity or CO2 uptake after a rehydratation following a 125 day drought #selleck chemical randurls[1|1|,|CHEM1|]# in 2009. Although new colonies of Nostoc grew, other cyanobacteria remained inactive, even though liverworts and lichens in the same biocrust community had responded within 24 h. The authors also collected cyanobacterial crusts during the dry season in 2010, then reintroduced them into their natural environment and exposed to rainfall during the 2011 wet season. Within 24 h, PSII in cyanobacteria

from a range of crust types had resurrected, and their CO2 uptake was verified. These results contrast with the widely accepted view that terrestrial cyanobacteria are drought tolerant MK-1775 in vitro and rapidly recommence photosynthesis once moisture is available, and indicate that cyanobacterial function appears to be controlled by environmental conditions other than rainfall during the dry season. In the last article in this special issue, Karsten and Holzinger (2014) review the acclimation strategies against ultraviolet radiation and dehydration of green algae, which is a major component

of biocrusts, particularly in alpine habitats. These organisms serve as good model organisms to study desiccation tolerance or photoprotective mechanisms, due to their natural capacity to withstand unfavorable conditions. The authors point out the urgent need for modern phylogenetic approaches in characterizing these organisms, and molecular methods for analyzing the metabolic changes involved in their adaptive strategies. Due to the large number of topics being investigated by biocrust Reverse transcriptase researchers, this special issue cannot provide a complete, definitive overview of this body of research. Each of the topics treated in the different articles included would certainly require a special issue by itself, and some, such as the effects of biocrusts on nitrogen cycling (e.g. Belnap 2002; Barger et al. 2005; Delgado-Baquerizo et al. 2010, 2013; Hu et al. 2014), are underrepresented here due to limitations of space. The diverse contributions included in this theme issue are, however, timely and we hope that they will advance our understanding of the important ecological roles played by biocrusts in the ecosystems where they are present, stimulate further research on these important organisms, and increase the awareness of conservationists to the importance of these systems.