Biocrusts reduce global dust emissions by 60 percent
The microbe-built crusts face threats from climate change and land-use changes
![image of the ground around succulent plants in South Africa showing lichens and cyanobacteria](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/051822_no_biocrust_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
Lichens (whitish-pink) and cyanobacteria (dark brown to blackish) form biological soil crusts that carpet the ground between succulent plants and shrubs in the Succulent Karoo ecoregion in South Africa.
B. Weber