Are you attending ESA this year? Are you a biocrust lover?

Come to COS 011 on Monday 1:30 pm to learn all about CrustNet and biological soil crusts. We are excited to recruit new collaborators and new sites for this project.
#esa2025
@womeninsoileco.bsky.social

Wrapping up a wonderful week of work establishing a #CrustNet node in northern NY.

Starting to measure #CrustNet plots, and learning some of our biocrust species! Thanks @sierrajech.bsky.social for coming out to NGBER! @matthewbowker1.bsky.social @ecology-awesome.bsky.social

We did infiltration measurements on some biocrusted soils today to help test the protocol for the upcoming CrustNet project @jornada1912.bsky.social

CrustNet installation at Grasslands National Park this week in Saskatchewan, Canada. Special shout out to Kai Schmitt, Emilie Porter, and Jordan Perron for spending time in the field with us. The Grasslands crusts are so beautiful. We are so lucky!

#crustnet

CrustNet visits the California coastal scrublands! We set up a site at the Santa Margarita Reserve and were excited to find liverworts and a highly diverse community of moss and lichen. Gorgeous landscape!

#CrustNet is at Lubrecht Experimental Forest in Montana! We could not have done this without our amazing DIRT Lab crew, Scott Ferrenberg, and @matthewbowker1.bsky.social. We had challenging conditions, black bears, and wildflowers galore.

This week CrustNet went to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in the Sonoran Desert. 🌵 With saguaros and organ pipe cactus above & moist lush mosses and lichens below! We could not do this work without our incredible team & Park scientists 💛

CrustNet is now at the Northern Great Basin Experimental Range in Oregon! Thanks to @rcoconnor.bksy.social and his awesome field crew for assisting with setup. We are so excited to include this site as a #CrustNet node.

In May, we installed #CrustNet at MPG Ranch in Montana. Many DIRT Lab folks assisted in this effort. We are so grateful to study the biocrusts in this environment and with so much support from MPG.

CrustNet installation in New Mexico! With a flux tower, mountain lion tracks, and cool fungi. We had some rain which really lit up the crusts. Thank you to the field crew members and their hard work to get the site installed.

Thank you to Diane Haughland and her team in Alberta, Canada for their Tier 1 & 2 installation of the CrustNet project at Mattheis Research Ranch in August. The site represents native grassland with 30+ biocrust species.

We returned to Grasslands National Park in August for CrustNet. The node is rich in Cladonia species and represents intact mixed-grass prairie with active bison grazing. Shout out to Kate Killebrew and Kayla Yazzie for their hard work & thank you to Grasslands National Park.

#CrustNet #GrasslandsNP

It was a pleasure to visit Grasslands National Park with collaborators Katherine Stewart and Diane Haughland and their graduate students. We will finish this #CrustNet setup in September. Can’t wait to visit this Cladonia heaven again.

Recruiting a fully funded PhD student (Fall 2026) for the CrustNet project at UTEP. Fieldwork in the Chihuahuan Desert + opportunities to work with a global network of biocrust researchers. Please pass along to strong students who might be a fit. Info: anthony.darrouzet-nardi.net

The CrustNet leadership team is headed to Biocrust6 this week. This is the 6th International Workshop on Biological Soil Crusts, hosted by the Northwest A&F University in Yangling, China. Join us for two CrustNet training sessions! Visit biocrust6.meeting666.com for more details.