This land was made for you and me and biocrusts - the role of land tenure in dryland ecosystem function - a cross border view

I have roamed and rambled private, communal and federal drylands in Mexico and the US. Everywhere I encountered carpets of biocrust and tried to watch my footsteps not to crash these fascinating organisms living on the sparkling soils of the vast Chihuahua Desert. Biocrusts are taxonomically and functionally extremely diverse communities. Cyanobacteria, microfungi, algae, lichens, and mosses together effectively protect the highly erodible dryland soils. Do scientists, farmers, land users, and policy makers understand that drylands to a large extent were made and maintained for you and me thanks to the important functional role of biocrusts? Come and see how.