Biological soil crusts as a major ecosystem component in sandization areas of the Brazilian Pampa

In the Brazilian Pampa, vegetation disturbance and soil degradation led to an expansion of sediment remobilization areas, a process locally termed as sandization. Transported sands generate severe environmental problems and hamper the growth of vegetation. However, parts of these sandization areas are quickly covered by biological soil crusts (biocrusts), which have not been investigated in this biome before.