Data for: Protective functions of Biocrusts on the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China, one of the most emblematic and historical structures built by humankind throughout all of history, is suffering from rain and wind erosion and is largely colonized by biocrusts. Yet, how biocrusts influence the conservation and longevity of this structure is virtually unknown. Here, we conducted an extensive biocrust survey across the Great Wall and found that biocrusts cover 67% of the studied sections. Biocrusts enhance the mechanical stability and reduce the erodibility of the Great Wall. Compared with bare rammed earth, the biocrust-covered sections exhibited reduced porosity, water-holding capacity, erodibility, and salinity by 2%–48%, while increasing compressive strength, penetration resistance, shear strength, and aggregate stability by 37%–321%. We further found that the protective function of biocrusts mainly depended on biocrust features, climatic conditions, and structure types. Our work highlights the fundamental importance of biocrusts as a nature-..., , , # Data for protective functions of Biocrusts on the Great Wall

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xd2547dpr](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xd2547dpr)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data files:
Note: The empty cells in data files indicate no data there.
(1) Porosity and water-holding capacity of biocrusts\_data
Sheet 1
-Capillary porosity of moss biocrusts in semiarid climate (%)
-Capillary porosity of cyanobacterial biocrusts in semiarid climate (%)
-Capillary porosity of bare rammed earth in semiarid climate (%)
-Capillary porosity of moss biocrusts in arid climate (%)
-Capillary porosity of cyanobacterial biocrusts in arid climate (%)
-Capillary porosity of bare rammed earth in arid climate (%)
-Capillary porosity of moss biocrusts on wall (%)
-Capillary porosity of moss biocrusts on fortress (%)
-Capillary porosity of cyanobacterial biocrusts on wall (%)
-Capillary porosity of cyanobacterial biocrusts on fortress (%)
-Capillary porosity of bare rammed earth on wall (%)
...