Microbiotic crusts, or cryptogamic crusts as they have often been called, are arid land soil crusts consolidated by a combination of cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, fungi, lichens, and bryophytes. This site is a research site with background material on microbiotic crusts, descriptions of our study sites, and a growing set of species descriptions and illustrations. The work upon which the website is based has been funded by the National Science Foundation.
Site Layout:
Sites: Alphabetical list of sites along with a description and map of area.
Species list (includes description and photo)
- blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria)
- green algae (Chlorophyta)
- diatoms (Bacillariophyta)
- yellow-green algae (Xanthophyta)
- eustigmatophytes (Eustigmatophyta)
This site is maintained by AJ Kennedy: aj_kennedy@yahoo.com
The site was originally designed and created by Marianne Kingsley
Ongoing management and oversight is provided by Jeff Johansen