Global Biocrust Effects on Soil Carbon Cycling from 437 Observations, 1980–2020

A 2026 meta-analysis by Xiaoduan Wei synthesizes 437 independent observations from 89 studies spanning 1980 to 2020. It quantifies the effects of biocrust cover on soil organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, and soil respiration globally. The analysis explores how these effects vary by biocrust type, climate, and soil texture.

Use Cases

• Modeling biocrust contributions to global soil carbon stocks based on reported percentage increases in SOC, MBC, and Rs.
• Analyzing the influence of climatic drivers like annual potential evapotranspiration on soil carbon cycling under biocrusts.
• Comparing the differential effects of moss versus cyanobacterial crusts on key carbon cycle components.
• Investigating how soil texture and elevation modulate biocrust impacts on soil carbon dynamics.

Strengths

• Based on a systematic meta-analysis of 437 observations from 89 studies.
• Provides specific percentage increases for key carbon cycle components: SOC (98%), MBC (176%), and Rs (35%).
• Covers a 40-year global temporal range (1980–2020).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The primary data file is a DOCX document, which may require extraction or conversion for analysis.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Xiaoduan Wei.

Collection Method

Meta-analysis of published studies.

Time Range

1980–2020

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-13 05:48:22; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global