Abstract
Biocrusts (topsoil communities formed by mosses, lichens, bacteria, fungi, algae, and cyanobacteria) are a key biotic component of dryland ecosystems. Whilst climate patterns control the distribution of biocrusts in drylands worldwide, terrain and soil attributes can influence biocrust distribution at landscape scale. Multi‐source unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery was used to map and study biocrust ecology in a typical dryland ecosystem in central Spain. Red, green and blue (RGB) imagery was processed using structure‐from‐motion techniques to map terrain attributes related to microclimate and terrain stability. Multispectral imagery was used to produce accurate maps (accuracy > 80%) of dryland ecosystem components (vegetation, bare soil and biocrust composition). Finally, thermal infrared (TIR) and multispectral imagery was used to calculate the apparent thermal inertia (ATI) of soil and to evaluate how ATI was related to soil moisture (r2 = 0.83). The relationship between soil properties and UAV‐derived variables was first evaluated at the field plot level. Then, the maps obtained were used to explore the relationship between biocrusts and terrain attributes at ecosystem level through a redundancy analysis. The most significant variables that explain biocrust distribution are: ATI (34.4% of variance, F = 130.75; p < 0.001), Elevation (25.8%, F = 97.6; p < 0.001), and potential solar incoming radiation (PSIR) (52.9%, F = 200.1; p < 0.001). Differences were found between areas dominated by lichens and mosses. Lichen‐dominated biocrusts were associated with areas with high slopes and low values of ATI, with soil characterized by a higher amount of soluble salts, and lower amount of organic carbon, total phosphorus (Ptot) and total nitrogen (Ntot). Biocrust‐forming mosses dominated lower and moister areas, characterized by gentler slopes and higher values of ATI with soils with higher contents of organic carbon, Ptot and Ntot. This study shows the potential to use UAVs to improve our understanding of drylands and to evaluate the control that the terrain has on biocrust distribution.
We used in synergy multi‐source UAV‐based imagery to map and study biocrusts’ ecology in a typical dryland ecosystem in central Spain. We processed RGB imagery by means of Structure from Motion techniques to map terrain attributes related to microclimate and terrain stability. We used thermal infrared imagery to calculate the apparent thermal inertia (ATI) of soils and to estimate how ATI was related to soil moisture. Finally, we used multispectral imagery to produce accurate maps of dryland ecosystem components (i.e., vegetation, bare soil and biocrust composition). We integrated traditional field approaches with new methodologies to explore the relationship between biocrusts and terrain attributes at landscape level. The very fine spatial resolution maps provided by UAVs were essential for a detailed description and monitoring of these complex and threatened ecosystems.