Grateful to see this beautiful #biocrust on a trip through Canyonlands National Park in the Maze District. It is always a gift to see such intact crust in these remote places

Who is doing #biocrust work in the alpine in North America? Let's talk! I want more field sites here 👇🤩

When we tell people that #biocrust can be a dominant form of ground cover in drylands, it can be hard to picture. Here's a perfect example from Canyonlands National Park in Utah showing how extensive biocrust cover can be!

Science is still happening! Hopeful that our new paper can serve as a resource for those seeking or making digital seed-based restoration tools: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Send me a message if you need access @coleoptara.bsky.social @restorecal.bsky.social @magdagarbowski.bsky.social

With so much weighing on the scientific community right now, I find solace in the resilience of the natural world—like these beautiful biocrusts continually holding the desert together.

Biological soil crusts are incredible soil stabilizers, creating complex structures when intertwined with sand particles. Nature’s engineering at its finest! #Biocrusts #SoilStabilization #Drylands

🌵✨ When we say biocrusts are "the coral reefs of the desert," we mean it—just look at these vibrant colors! 🟠🟡🔵🔴 They're also reef-like in their roles stabilizing soil, reducing erosion, retaining moisture, and fixing nitrogen 🌿

This stunning Syntrichia #biocrust moss kept photosynthesizing for days after the last precip event—showing how crucial winter CO2 capture is in this semiarid ecosystem.

Spotted: Stunning hoar frost crystals crowning the biocrust! With these persistently wet conditions, there’s likely significant CO2 uptake happening within these photosynthetic primary producers 🌿✨ #Biocrusts #Ecology #Drylands

Here's some frosty #biocrust from Southeast Utah, USA to add some sparkle to your Wednesday morning. Photo by the amazing John Watson

It's great to see early work that I was involved in with Tim Wertin and @ecology-awesome.bsky.social being cited in the below chapter as one of the few studies examining the controls of CO2 exchange in global drylands.
www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.1079/...

Excited to fully lean into this new platform. Get ready for more pictures of biocrust (like this one below!) and conversations around land and dust. Looking forward to connecting with y'all