Barren deserts can host complex ecosystems in their soils
Monday, December 22, 2014 - 09:30
in Earth & Climate
"Biological soil crusts" don't look like much. In fact, people often trample right over these dark, or green-tinted, sometimes raised patches in the desert soil. But these scruffy stretches can house delicate ecosystems as varied and complexly interwoven as that of a lush, tropical rainforest.