Ya et al. (2025) Staging effects of biological soil crust-driven coupled soil–water-vegetation mechanisms in vegetation-limited areas

Identification

• Journal: CATENA
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-09-09
• Authors: Yang Ya, Dongdong Liu, Yan Lin
• DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2025.109430

Research Groups

• College of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China.

Short Summary

This review systematically elucidates the cascade effects of biological soil crusts (BSCs) in facilitating ecological restoration in vegetation-limited areas (VLAs) by reconstructing soil systems, regulating ecohydrological processes, and promoting vegetation succession. It highlights BSCs' multifunctional roles as a pioneering solution for overcoming restoration challenges in these degraded environments.

Objective

• To systematically elucidate the staging effects and cascade mechanisms through which biological soil crusts (BSCs) drive coupled soil-water-vegetation interactions to facilitate ecosystem recovery in vegetation-limited areas (VLAs).

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global (review of VLAs, arid and semiarid regions, karst landscapes, Loess Plateau, Northwest China).
• Temporal Scale: Successional dynamics of BSCs and long-term ecological restoration outcomes (review of existing literature).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not applicable (review paper).
• Data sources: Scientific literature review and synthesis.

Main Results

• Biological soil crusts (BSCs) initiate soil system reconstruction by enhancing structural stability and nutrient storage through physical binding, chemical weathering, and biological carbon–nitrogen fixation.
• BSCs regulate hydrological balance by reshaping evaporation-infiltration-runoff coupling, improving water retention, and mitigating erosion via their porous architecture and surface roughness, creating a synergistic "water-retention and erosion-resistance" effect.
• BSCs promote vegetation succession through seed entrapment, microhabitat engineering, and allelopathic regulation, fostering robust plant–microbe interaction networks.
• The functional roles of BSCs exhibit pronounced spatial heterogeneity and successional dynamics, modulated by climate regimes, substrate properties, and human activities.
• Challenges persist in integrating multiscale processes, evaluating long-term restoration outcomes, and decoding BSC responses to climate change.

Contributions

• Provides a systematic and comprehensive review of the cascade effects of BSCs in driving soil-water-vegetation mechanisms for ecological restoration in vegetation-limited areas (VLAs).
• Synthesizes the multifunctional biogeochemical roles of BSCs as a pioneering solution for overcoming restoration bottlenecks in degraded ecosystems.
• Identifies critical gaps and proposes future research directions, including interdisciplinary integration, AI-driven dynamic monitoring systems, and optimized restoration paradigms.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Ya2025Staging,
  author = {Ya, Yang and Liu, Dongdong and Lin, Yan},
  title = {Staging effects of biological soil crust-driven coupled soil–water-vegetation mechanisms in vegetation-limited areas},
  journal = {CATENA},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.catena.2025.109430},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2025.109430}
}