Dr. Ferran Garcia Pichel recently published in Nature Sustainability on the novel use of solar power plants in the regeneration of photosynthetic communities (aka “biocrusts”) that has the potential to reach regional scaling. Check out the paper here or by clicking on the latest publication!
Category: Papers

ASU News interview with GDC Director, Osvaldo Sala
ASU recently organized an interview with Dr. Osvaldo Sala regarding ecosystem services, the sustainability of drylands & discussed a new publication on the effects of grazing. Read the full interview here.

Hungry for More: Dr. Ball contributes to a publication in SBB on linking Phosphorus to evolution traits in Nematodes
Dr. Becky Ball, GDC Committee member, recently published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry. Read the entire text here on the effects of phosphorous-dense environments vs. phosphorus-deficient on growth and development in free-living soil nematodes. Read the abstract below: “Ecological stoichiometry is a useful theoretical framework for understanding the sources and controls on nutrient availability that structure the composition and diversity…
ISME Communications publication explores biocrust research with GDC Committee Member, Dr. Garcia- Pichel
Feeling blue? So are these cyanobacteria! Dr. Ferran Garcia-Pichel recently published in ISME Communications, access the entire article here to explore his latest research on self-organizing microbial communities.

Committee member, Dr. Becky Ball, publishes new paper on desert soil arthropods
Published in The Journal of Arid Environments, Dr. Becky Ball, along with two colleagues, published the article “Vegetation influences desert soil arthropods and their response to altered precipitation.” The article details how vegetation/plant cover and varying precipitation affect soil arthropods. Click through the link to read the entire article on how these three factors play into one another.