The biological soil crusts of the San Nicolas Islands: enigmatic algae from a geographically isolated ecosystem

Authors

Valerie R. Flechtner
Jeffrey R. Johansen
Jayne Belnap

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Western North American Naturalist

Volume

68

First Page

405

Publisher

Brigham Young University

Last Page

436

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

Composite soil samples from 7 sites on San Nicolas Island were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively for the presence of cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microalgae. Combined data demonstrated a rich algal flora with 19 cyanobacterial and 19 eukaryotic microalgal genera being identified, for a total of 56 species. Nine new species were identified and described among the cyanobacteria and the eukaryotic microalgae that were isolated: Leibleinia edaphica, Aphanothece maritima, Chroococcidiopsis edaphica, Cyanosarcina atroveneta, Hassallia californica, Hassallia pseudoramosissima, Microchaete terrestre, Palmellopsis californicus, and Pseudotetracystis compactis. Distinct distributional patterns of algal taxa existed among sites on the island and among soil algal floras of western North America. Some algal taxa appeared to be widely distributed across many desert regions, including Microcoleus vaginatus, Nostoc punctiforme, Nostoc paludosum, and Tolypothrix distorta, Chlorella vulgaris, Diplosphaera cf. chodatii, Myrmecia astigmatica, Myrmecia biatorellae, Hantzschia amphioxys, and Luticola mutica. Some taxa share a distinctly southern distribution with soil algae from southern Arizona, southern California, and Baja California (e.g., Scenedesmus deserticola and Eustigmatos magnus). The data presented herein support the view that the cyanobacterial and microalgal floras of soil crusts possess significant biodiversity, much of it previously undescribed.

Comments

This article may be accessed here.

The publisher retains the copyright to this work and may require a subscription to access the published version.

Please use publisher's recommended citation.

Recommended Citation

Flechtner, V. R., Johansen, J. R., and Belnap, J., 2008, The biological soil crusts of the San Nicolas Islands: enigmatic algae from a geographically isolated ecosystem: Western North American Naturalist, v. 68, p. 405-436.