Biomass assessment of microbial surface communities by means of hyperspectral remote sensing data

Dryland vegetation developed morphological and physiological strategies to cope with drought. However, as aridity increases, vascular plant coverage gets sparse and microbially-dominated surface communities (MSC), comprising cyanobacteria, algae, lichens and bryophytes together with heterotropic bacteria, archaea and fungi, gain relevance. Nevertheless, the relevance of MSC net primary productivity has only rarely been considered in ecosystem scale studies, and detailed information on their contribution to the total photosynthetic biomass reservoir is largely missing. In this study, we mapped the spatial distribution of two different MSC (biological soil crusts and quartz fields hosting hypolithic crusts) at two different sites within the South African Succulent Karoo (Soebatsfontein and Knersvlakte). Then we characterized both types of MSC in terms of chlorophyll content, and combining these data with the biocrust and quartz field maps, we estimated total biomass values of MSCs and their spatial patterns within the two different ecosystems. Our results revealed that MSC are important vegetation components of the South African Karoo biome, revealing clear differences between the two sites. At Soebatsfontein, MSC occurred as biological soil crusts (biocrusts), which covered about one third of the landscape reaching an overall biomass value of ~ 480 g ha⁻¹ of chlorophyll a + b at the landscape scale. In the Knersvlakte, which is characterized by harsher environmental conditions (i.e. higher solar radiation and potential evapotranspiration), MSC occurred as biocrusts, but also formed hypolithic crusts growing on the lower soil-immersed parts of translucent quartz pebbles. Whereas chlorophyll concentrations of biocrusts and hypolithic crusts where insignificantly lower in the Knersvlakte, the overall MSC biomass reservoir was by far larger with ~ 780 g ha⁻¹ of chlorophyll a + b. Thus, the complementary microbially-dominated surface communities promoted biomass formation within the environmentally harsh Knersvlakte ecosystem. - Highlights: • Microbially-dominated surface communities (MSC) contribute substantially to biomass formation in arid regions. • Quantification of MSC biomass has been largely missing up to now. • We quantified total MSC biomass by means of a combined remote sensing and field data approach. • Soil-colonizing biocrusts form the main MSC biomass reservoir in the region around Soebatsfontein • In drier regions (Knersvlakte), quartz fields facilitate the hypolithic growth of MSC.