When and where are drylands not dry? Precipitation pulses and decomposition in changing drylands

Dryland microbes largely control dryland biogeochemical processes like decomposition. Yet, we typically describe dryland moisture and other abiotic conditions in spatial and temporal scales that are relevant to big organisms like humans and plants. This large-scale perspective and failure to recognize heterogeneity in conditions through time and space can cause us to misunderstand the role of moisture in dryland biogeochemistry. How can we think creatively to see moisture from a microbial perspective, considering moisture at the scales of centimeters, time scales of minutes, and recognizing that non-rain moisture sources can be important drivers of dryland biogeochemical processes?