Biotic Crust Project
Microscopic wonder of the desert world.
http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/bcp/
Green algae of Baja California, Mexico
Contributors: William H. Clark (Sample collection) and Valerie R. Flechtner - (algal identification).Sites Included in this Study: BC and LG
Prior to 1998, most recently published studies of the taxonomy and distribution of soil algae in North America focused on semiarid shrub steppe and cools deserts in the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin. A few studies conducted in the 1960's examined the algal flora of microbiotic crusts of hot deserts, but this work emphasized the cyanobacterial components of the crusts. A series of studies of microbiotic crusts from hot deserts of North American including the Chihuahuan, Mojave and Sonoran deserts were initiated in the mid 1990's. A multi-year study which examined the eukaryotic non-diatom algae present in multiple sites in the Central Desert of Baja California, Mexico has revealed a diverse algal flora including species not previously reported from desert soils. A diverse algal flora has been identified and new species have been reported (Flechtner et al. 1998, Lewis and Flechtner 2002, 2004).
All soil samples were collected by William H. Clark in Baja California, Mexico from 1996-2000. Samples labeled "BC" were collected in the Catavina area of the Central Desert of Baja California, Mexico (Lat. 28046'N, Long. 114046'W, elevation 550 m). Samples labeled "LG" were collected in LaGrulla meadow in the Sierra San Pedro Martir (SSPM), a fault-bound range 60 miles SE of Ensenada, Mexico (Lat. 30054'N, Long. 115028'W, elevation 2,100 m.)
Resulting Publications
Flechtner, Valerie R., Jeffrey R. Johansen and William H. Clark. 1998. Algal composition of microbiotic crusts from the Central Desert of Baja California, Mexico. The Great Basin Natur. 58:295-311.
Lewis, L. A. and V. R. Flechtner. 2002. Green algae (Chlorophyta) of desert microbiotic crusts: diversity of North American taxa. Taxon 51: 443-451.
Lewis, L. A. and V. R. Flechtner. 2004. Cryptic species of Scenedesmus from desert soils of western North America. Journal of Phycology 40: 1127-1137.