Hyperspectral imaging predicts differences in carbon and nitrogen status among representative biocrust functional groups of the Colorado Plateau

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are widespread soil photosynthetic communities covering about 12% of Earth’s land surface and play crucial roles in terrestrial carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles, yet scalable quantifications of biocrusts and their biogeochemical contributions are notably lacking. While remote sensing has enormous potential to assess, scale, and contextualize biocrusts and their functions, the applicability of hyperspectral data in predicting C- and N-related biocrust traits remains largely unexplored. We address this issue by evaluating the potential of in situ hyperspectral data to predict C and N across a range of biocrust species and different environmental conditions. We found that in situ hyperspectral reflectance measurements can be used to predict biocrust tissue C/N ratios and N concentrations with relatively high accuracy but to a lesser extent for potential biocrust N2 fixation rates. Critical wavelength domains included the visible region of the spectrum f..., Biocrust sample collection
A total of 14 species were chosen for their variation in C and N cycling and their abundance in the Southwest United States and globally, with 10 replicate samples for each of the 14 target species. Biocrusts were collected from the Sand Flats Recreation Area near Moab, Utah (38.5781°N, 109.4472°W). Biocrusts were identified based on known field appearance characteristics such as color and morphology. Descriptions of the sampling site in detail are available in (Torres-Cruz et al., 2018). Two cyanolichens (C. tenax, C. coccophorum) and one darkly-pigmented cyanobacterium (likely Scytonema sp.) were selected as known N2-fixers (N2-fixers hereafter) and other species were chosen due to their high abundance at the Moab site and in drylands worldwide. Samples were collected by first wetting with deionized water and a spray bottle, then using a 1-inch (2.54 cm) clear plastic tube to core the target species. We included only the minimum amount of below-crust mineral..., , # Data from: Hyperspectral imaging predicts differences in carbon and nitrogen status among representative biocrust functional groups of the Colorado Plateau

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h9w0vt4rd](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h9w0vt4rd)

1. The spectral reflectance of samples for 14 biocrust species was measured using an ASD FieldSpec 3 spectroradiometer under both wet and dry conditions.
2. Spectral reflectance of three mineral soil samples measured using an ASD FieldSpec 3 spectroradiometer
3. Biocrust functional traits data

## Description of the data and file structure

1. The biocrust spectral reflectance folder contains 1377 binary files (.asd files), each of which represents the spectra (350-2500nm) measured using an ASD FieldSpec 3 spectroradiometer.
2. The mineral soil spectral reflectance folder contains 3 binary files (.asd files), each of which represents the spectra (350-2500nm) measured using an ASD FieldSpec 3 spectroradiometer.
3. For the Excel file with the biocrus...