Effects of Biological Soil Crusts on Some Soil Physico-Chemical Propertices (Case Study: Hilslopes of Agi-Gol Wetland, Golestan Province)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Dept. of Arid Zone Management Faculty of Rangeland & Watershed Management Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources. Gorgan, IRAN

2 Dept. of Arid Zone Management, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.

3 Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

4 Dept. of Watershed Management Faculty of Rangeland & Watershed Management Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources. Gorgan, IRAN

5 Department of Forest Gorgn University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.Gorgan. IRAN.

‎10.22052/deej.2025.255397.1074

Abstract

Introduction: The expansion of deserts in Iran poses a significant challenge, with 75% of the population in arid and semi-arid regions facing issues related to desertification. Within this ecosystem, biotic and abiotic environmental components and their interactions are of paramount importance. The soil biota in these areas plays a crucial role in improving soil properties and restoring degraded lands. Therefore, biological soil crusts (BSCs), as communities of living organisms on the uppermost few millimeters of the soil surface in dryland regions, perform various invaluable ecological functions and are highly susceptible to erosion. They can enhance soil physico-chemical characteristics, aid in natural resource management, and play an essential role in protecting wetlands, as well as in soil and water conservation. Hence, this study aims to assess the impact of biocrusts on the soil properties of the Ajigol wetland in the Inche Burun region of Gonbad Kavous, North of Golestan province, a hotspot of wind erosion during warm days and months north of Gorgan.
 
Materials and Methods: In this research, the physicochemical properties of both topsoil and subsurface samples were measured, including soil organic carbon (SOC), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), and the concentrations of Sodium (Na), Calcium (Ca), Potassium (K), and Magnesium (Mg). Additionally, soil particle size distribution (SPSD) was determined using laser diffraction analysis. Finally, data analysis was conducted to investigate the impact of biological soil crusts on the physical and chemical properties of the soil using the t-test and Wilcoxon test within the R programming environment. 
Here's an edited English version of the Results section:
 
Results: The analysis of soil chemical properties revealed notable differences between the two depths examined: 0-1 cm and 1-5 cm. The electrical conductivity (EC) measured 199.87 dS/m at 0-1 cm and 194.51 dS/m at 1-5 cm. Potassium (K) content was higher in the surface layer, recorded at 78.29 ppm compared to 71.48 ppm in the subsurface layer. Magnesium (Mg) levels also showed a similar trend, with 1.75 ppm at 0-1 cm and 1.12 ppm at 1-5 cm. The soil organic carbon (SOC) content was significantly higher at 1.58% for the 0-1 cm depth, compared to 0.77% at 1-5 cm. However, pH levels were slightly elevated in the deeper layer, measuring 7.41 at 0-1 cm and 7.48 at 1-5 cm. Sodium (Na) content increased with depth, with values of 132.73 ppm at 0-1 cm and 137.63 ppm at 1-5 cm. Calcium (Ca) levels were comparable at 3.42 ppm for the surface layer and 3.5 ppm for the subsurface layer. The sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) showed higher values at greater depth, with 83.67 ((mmol/L)0.5) at 0-1 cm and 96.61 ((mmol/L)0.5) at 1-5 cm. Similarly, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) values were also higher, recorded at 128.38 ((mmol/L)0.5) at the surface layer and 142.65 ((mmol/L)0.5) at the subsurface layer. The findings indicated that biological soil crusts in the studied area significantly influenced organic carbon levels at both depths, leading to an increase in organic matter. Furthermore, potassium and magnesium concentrations were greater in the surface layer of the biological soil crusts, while sodium, calcium, SAR, and ESP concentrations increased with soil depth. For all study depths, the predominant soil particle size was silt (2-50 microns), but in the subsurface layer, the particle size was generally larger than in the surface layer.
 
Discussion and Conclusion: Analysis of the soil's physicochemical properties at different depths did not reveal statistically significant differences across the various parameters studied. However, it was observed that biological soil crusts have a positive impact on increasing organic matter in the topsoil, with a subsequent decrease at greater depths. Soil particle size distribution was also influenced by the presence of BSCs. In general, biological soil crusts can directly and indirectly affect the physicochemical properties of the soil and play a significant role in sediment processes and the distribution of dust particles in the environment. These communities can stabilize the soil by increasing organic matter and overall soil stability, thereby contributing to soil conservation and erosion prevention. This research enhances our understanding of soil properties and sediment processes influenced by biological soil crusts in the Ajigol wetland area in Golestan province, highlighting the ecological value of this wetland ecosystem. Raising awareness among local residents regarding the importance of BSCs is crucial, and their degradation due to various factors, particularly overgrazing, should be carefully considered and mitigated.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Alinezhad, M., Hosseinalizadeh, M., Ownegh., M., & Mohammadian Behbahani, A. (2022). Geomorpho-Pedological Analysis of Nebka Landscape in Sufikam Plain, Golestan Province. Desert Ecosystem Engineering, 6(16), 59-70. 22052/6.16.59
  2. Boali, A., & Mohammadian Behbahani, A. (2020). Comparative evaluation of wind erosion intensity modeling using WEHI and IRIFR models for presentation of Segazi Plain management in Isfahan. Journal of Water and Soil Conservation, 27(4), 129-147. 22069/jwsc.2020.17540.3305    
  3. Bowker, M.A., Belnap, J., Büdel, B., Sannier, C., Pietrasiak, N., & Eldridge, D.J., & Rivera-Aguilar, V. (2016). Controls on distribution patterns of biological soil crusts at micro-to global scales. In Biological soil crusts: an organizing principle in drylands (pp. 173-197). Springer, Cham.
  4. Bieganowski, A., Ryżak, M., Sochan, A., Barna, G., Hernádi, H., Beczek, M., Polakowski, C., & Makó, A. (2018). Laser diffractometry in the measurements of soil and sediment particle size distribution. Advances in agronomy, 151, 215-279. 1016/bs.agron.2018.04.003
  5. Eldridge, D.J., Reed, S., Travers, S.K., Bowker, M.A., Maestre, F.T., Ding, J., Havrilla, C., Rodriguez-Caballero, E., Barger, N., Weber, B., & Antoninka, A., (2020). The pervasive and multifaceted influence of biocrusts on water in the world's drylands. Global change biology, 26(10), 6003-6014. 1111/gcb.15232
  6. Faist, A.M., Herrick, J.E., Belnap, J., Van Zee, J.W., & Barger, N.N. (2017). Biological soil crust and disturbance controls on surface hydrology in a semi-arid ecosystem. Ecosphere, 8(3), e01691. 1002/ecs2.1691
  7. Farahi, M., Mohammadian Behbahani, A., Asgari, H.R., dahmardeh, B., & Kaskaoutis, D. (2022). Investigating the concentration of heavy elements in dust and evaluating human health risk (case study: Birjand city, South Khorasan province). Ph.D. Thesis. Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. 167 p.
  8. Fitzer, S.C., Torres Gabarda, S., Daly, L., Hughes, B., Dove, M., O'Connor, W., Potts, J., Scanes, P., & Byrne, M. (2018). Coastal acidification impacts on shell mineral structure of bivalve mollusks. Ecology and evolution, 8(17), 8973-8984. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4416
  9. Gheytasi, F., Mohammadian Behbahani, A., Hosseinalizadeh, M., & Asgari H. (2018). Comparative analysis of soil physico-chemical properties in erodibility of various desert crusts (Case study: hills around Aji-Gol lake, Golestan province, Iran). Journal of Desert Ecosystem Engineering, 7(21), 33–44. 22052/deej.2018.7.21.25
  10. Hassanzadeh Bashtian, M., Sepehr, A., Farzam, M., & Bahreini, M. (2018). Distribution of biological soil crust along surface evolution of an arid alluvial fan. Earth science research, 9(1), 1- 13. 29252/esrj.9.1.1
  11. Hemati Daiv, A., Zare Garizi, A., Sheikh, V., & Mohammadian Behbahani, A. (2023). Effects of biological soil crusts on surface runoff quality. Water and Soil Management and Modeling, 3(4), 93-106. DOI: 10.22098/mmws.2022.11617.1151
  12. Havrilla, C.A., Villarreal, M.L., DiBiase, J.L., Duniway, M.C., & Barger, N.N. (2020). Ultra-high-resolution mapping of biocrusts with Unmanned Aerial Systems. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 6(4), pp.441-456. https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.180
  13. Ildoromi, A., Moradi, M., & Ghorbani, M. (2018). Invest the Effect of the Intensity of Wind Erosion and Desertification on the Destruction of the Habitat of Hamedan Region. Geography and Environmental Planning, 29(1), pp.21-42. .22108/gep.2017.101162.100910
  14. Ihaka, R. & Gentleman, R. (1996). R: a language for data analysis and graphics. Journal of computational and graphical statistics, 5(3), 299-314. https://doi.org/10.2307/1390807
  15. Kariminejad, N., Hosseinalizadeh, M., Pourghasemi, H.R., & Tiefenbacher, J.P. (2021). Change detection in piping, gully head forms, and mechanisms. CATENA, 206, p.105550. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2021.105550
  16. Rodríguez-Caballero, E., Román, J.R., Chamizo, S., Roncero Ramos, B., & Cantón, Y. (2019). Biocrust landscape-scale spatial distribution is strongly controlled by terrain attributes: Topographic thresholds for colonization in a semiarid badland system. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 44(14), pp.2771-2779. 1002/esp.4706
  17. Matboo, A., Sheikh, V., Mohammadian Behbahani, A., & Zare Garizi, A. (2024). Effects of biocrusts on the hydrological components and sediment production at experimental plot scale in arid environments. Watershed Engineering and Management, 16(1), 117-134.
  18. Sohrabizadeh, Z., Sodaiezadeh, H., Hakimizadeh, M., Taghizadeh Mehrjardi, R., & Ghanei Bafaqi, M. (2019). Evaluation of Heavy Metal Contamination in Soil Samples around the Lead-Zinc Mine of Kushk, Bafq, using Pollution Indicators and Principal Component Analysis. Geography and environmental planning, 31(1), 15-34. 22108/gep.2020.121263.1260
  19. Sefidian, S., Salmanmahiny, A., & Sheikh, V. (2023). Effects of changes in land cover and hydro-climatic parameters on the extent and nature of Alagol, Ajigol and Ulmagol international importance wetlands in the last three decades. Journal of natural environment, 76(2), 245-258.‎ http//doi.org/10.22059/jne.2022.349828.2481
  20. Sharifi Garmdareh, J., khormali, F., Rolf, C., Martin, k., shahriari, A., & Frechen. M. (2018). Grain Size and Mineralogy Variations along the Climatic Gradient on the Surface Loess-Derived Soils in Northern Iran. Journal of Water and soil, 32(4), 723-736. 22067/jsw.v32i4.67072
  21. Tanner, S., Ben-Hur, M., Argaman, E., & Katra, I. (2023). The effects of soil properties and aggregation on sensitivity to erosion by water and wind in two Mediterranean soils. Catena. 221.106787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2022.106787
  22. Tavakoli, Y., Yashti, & Khodashenas. A.R. (2014). Comparison of Plant Characteristics and Soil Organic Matter under Gharegh and Grazing Conditions (Case Study: Marginal Rangelands of Mashhad). Range and Desert Research of Iran. 21(3), 416-423. https://doi.org/10.22092/ijrdr.2014.12115
  23. Wu, Z., Moayedi, H., Salari, M., Le, B.N., & Ahmadi Dehrashid, A. (2024). Assessment of sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) in groundwater: Integrating experimental data with cutting-edge swarm intelligence approaches. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 1-18. 1007/s00477-024-02727-x
Desert Ecosystem Engineering
Volume 13, Issue 45
April 2025
Pages 63-76

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics