SGHdata.zip

This study demonstrates the occurrence of SGH in biocrust succession, elucidating the underlying mechanisms across phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic facets. We highlight the pivotal role of functional redundancy in driving community organization, but niche overlap is the linchpin for the framework of SGH that determines stress-competition correlations in biocrusts. Crucially, we highlighted the pivotal role of functional redundancy in driving crust community organization and species competition. However, given that cyanobacteria serve as primary facilitators under high-stress conditions, future research must address the relative cost of being a facilitator and how this cost changes with environmental stress. Further refining cyanobacterial crust classification could separate the effects of interactions between the facilitators and beneficiary on stress gradients, which contribute to enhance the understanding of the SGH through integration with biocrust photo-respiratory characteristics.