Ecological boost for military lands

Some arid lands in the American West degraded by military exercises that date back to General George Patton’s Word War II maneuvers in the Mojave Desert should get a boost from an innovative research project led by CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Nichole Barger. The research team is focused on developing methods to restore biological soil crusts -- microbial communities primarily concentrated on soil surfaces critical to decreasing erosion and increasing water retention and soil fertility. Such biological soil crusts, known as “biocrusts,” can cover up to 70 percent of the ground in some arid ecosystems and are dominated by cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, fungi and bacteria, she said.

Assistant Professor Nichole Barger is targeting the restoration of biological soil crusts at two U.S. Department of Defense installations in the West where the ground surface has been damaged by past military activity. Photo courtesy Sarah Castle

Military tank tracks like these made in 1964 in what is now Death Valley National Park in California are still evident in this 2004 photograph. Photo courtesy Richard Hereford

Native plants thrive in biological soil crusts, which decrease soil erosion and increasing water retention and soil fertility. Photo courtesy Soilcrust.org

As part of a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, a team led by CU-Boulder is growing biological soil crusts in a laboratory at Arizona State University that will be transplanted onto damaged surface areas at two military bases in the West to help restore the natural ecosystems. Photo courtesy Nichole Barger

Healthy biological soil crusts like these near Moab, Utah are the target of research by a CU-Boulder team led by faculty member Nichole Barger. Photo courtesy Soilcrust.org

Tanks and other military vehicles used during military maneuvers can scar the landscape and damage soils and vegetation important for the health of desert ecosystems. Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Defense

A new project led by CU-Boulder is aimed at helping to restore fragile desert ecosystems at two U.S. Department of Defense installations damaged by military maneuvers. Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Defense