Prolonged droughts followed by sudden bursts of rainfall -- how do desert soil bacteria manage to survive such harsh conditions? This long-debated question has now been answered by microbiologists.

This is a preview. Log in through your library . Abstract (1) A simple computer model was developed to predict soil-water potential at a Sonoran Desert site in the south-western U.S.A. The variability ...

The effects of soil moisture and temperature on arthropod communities were experimentally examined in the northern Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico. Shaded plots were established which lowered the soil ...

A new study published in The Innovation has revealed the microstructure and expansion mechanism of cyanobacteria-dominated biological soil crusts (BSCs). By employing micro-scale X-ray computed ...

Perhaps the hardiest assemblage of lichens and other fungi and algae yet found has been hiding in plain sight in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert. This newly discovered “grit-crust,” as ecologists have ...

The foundation of any happy garden is the soil. In fact, some might argue that a gardener’s job isn’t to grow plants but to cultivate healthy soil. In our desert, we are lucky to have plenty of ...

Orange bucket and pie server in hand, Jane Brady stopped. The ground inside Scottsdale's McDowell Sonoran Preserve was littered with bleached-out rocks, speckled with clusters of black dirt. "Look at ...

Once seen as a barren wasteland, the Sahara Desert is being reshaped into fertile farmland. This video explores the ...

First authors Stefanie Imminger and Dimitri Meier sampling biocrusts in the Negev Desert, Israel. Credit: S. Imminger und D.V. Meier First authors Stefanie Imminger and Dimitri Meier sampling ...