Biocrust islands enhance infiltration, and reduce runoff and sediment yield on a heavily salinized dryland soil

Salinity and sodicity are major forms of land degradation in drylands worldwide, reducing soil function, and threatening pastoral livelihoods. Dryland soils are often dominated by biocrusts, surface aggregations of lichens, bryophytes, fungi and other minute organisms that stabilize surface soils. Biocrusts could have a role in maintaining hydrological functions in heavily salinized areas, but there have been few studies, and the mechanisms are...