Microbial community composition and diversity in Australian biological soil crusts (biocrusts)

This study addresses major knowledge gaps relating to the composition and distribution of the microbial communities comprising Australian soil biocrusts. It describes, for the first time, that the heterogeneity in microbiomes at the intra-continental scale is largely dictated by seasonal temperatures and precipitation. The methodology and results of this study have important implications for establishing an Australian framework for biocrust research, with relevance for identifying microbial species with unique strategies that have evolved under arid ecological niches. The discovery of strategies for ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and nitrogen fixation, in microbes that have evolved over long periods of time in an arid climate, may have applications in areas that are rapidly warming due to climate change.