My only ecological criticism of Tolkien is that he partakes of the same forest-centrism as the rest of Anglo and Anglo-diaspora culture. Grasslands and deserts and swamps are all FINE AND GOOD BIOMES, JIRT.
Where are my elves learning to speak to the desert biocrust or the carnivorous bog plants
Where are my elves learning to speak to the desert biocrust or the carnivorous bog plants
‘O! Wanderers in the shadowed land
despair not! For though dark they stand
all woods there be must end at last
and see the open sun go past:
the setting sun, the rising sun,
the day’s end, or the day begun.
For east or west all woods must fail—’
A branch crashes behind them.
despair not! For though dark they stand
all woods there be must end at last
and see the open sun go past:
the setting sun, the rising sun,
the day’s end, or the day begun.
For east or west all woods must fail—’
A branch crashes behind them.
September 26, 2026 at 4:37 PM
My only ecological criticism of Tolkien is that he partakes of the same forest-centrism as the rest of Anglo and Anglo-diaspora culture. Grasslands and deserts and swamps are all FINE AND GOOD BIOMES, JIRT.
Where are my elves learning to speak to the desert biocrust or the carnivorous bog plants
Where are my elves learning to speak to the desert biocrust or the carnivorous bog plants
Nice #biocrust of terricolous lichen among basalt stones, Bouteloua gracilis, and Echinocereus viridiflorus in northern New Mexico pinyon-juniper woodland.
March 28, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Nice #biocrust of terricolous lichen among basalt stones, Bouteloua gracilis, and Echinocereus viridiflorus in northern New Mexico pinyon-juniper woodland.
"During the three-year study, photovoltaic panels promoted biocrust formation, doubling biocrust biomass and tripling biocrust cover compared with open areas with similar soil characteristics."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Using solar farms as a platform for the ecological restoration of arid soils - Nature Sustainability
Biocrusts are crucial for soil health and sustainability in arid lands; however, human activities are degrading these biocrusts. This study explores the use of solar farms for a low-cost, low-impact a...
www.nature.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:54 AM
"During the three-year study, photovoltaic panels promoted biocrust formation, doubling biocrust biomass and tripling biocrust cover compared with open areas with similar soil characteristics."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
i have an impenetrable biocrust on my face
April 9, 2026 at 6:11 PM
i have an impenetrable biocrust on my face
List of the wonderful people working with biocrust. Let me know if you want in on the fun. All biocrust enthusiasts are invited!
December 5, 2024 at 10:46 PM
List of the wonderful people working with biocrust. Let me know if you want in on the fun. All biocrust enthusiasts are invited!
This stunning Syntrichia #biocrust moss kept photosynthesizing for days after the last precip event—showing how crucial winter CO2 capture is in this semiarid ecosystem.
December 29, 2024 at 3:46 PM
This stunning Syntrichia #biocrust moss kept photosynthesizing for days after the last precip event—showing how crucial winter CO2 capture is in this semiarid ecosystem.
Free biocrust workshop for arid grassland restoration! July 24 from 10-11am PST. Register here: tinyurl.run/biocrust
June 8, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Free biocrust workshop for arid grassland restoration! July 24 from 10-11am PST. Register here: tinyurl.run/biocrust
Be the biocrust of your existence
September 4, 2023 at 3:44 PM
Be the biocrust of your existence
Excited to announce the next International Biocrust Reading Group Meeting! 🪴🌍 We'll meet on January 7th at 17:00 GMT to discuss the latest in biocrust research. Interested in joining? Send me a message! #Biocrust #Ecology #ScienceCommunity @michalaphillips.bsky.social
December 13, 2024 at 4:30 PM
Excited to announce the next International Biocrust Reading Group Meeting! 🪴🌍 We'll meet on January 7th at 17:00 GMT to discuss the latest in biocrust research. Interested in joining? Send me a message! #Biocrust #Ecology #ScienceCommunity @michalaphillips.bsky.social
When we tell people that #biocrust can be a dominant form of ground cover in drylands, it can be hard to picture. Here's a perfect example from Canyonlands National Park in Utah showing how extensive biocrust cover can be!
July 15, 2025 at 10:25 PM
When we tell people that #biocrust can be a dominant form of ground cover in drylands, it can be hard to picture. Here's a perfect example from Canyonlands National Park in Utah showing how extensive biocrust cover can be!
February 13, 2024 at 7:16 AM
Our new review is out led by @michalaphillips.bsky.social examining #biocrust recovery amidst climate change 👇
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Navigating the possibilities and pitfalls of biocrust recovery in a changing climate
Biological soil crusts are complex communities composed of lichens, mosses, bacteria, and cyanobacteria that create a living skin on the soil surface across drylands worldwide. Although small in size...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 20, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Our new review is out led by @michalaphillips.bsky.social examining #biocrust recovery amidst climate change 👇
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Grateful to see this beautiful #biocrust on a trip through Canyonlands National Park in the Maze District. It is always a gift to see such intact crust in these remote places
October 20, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Grateful to see this beautiful #biocrust on a trip through Canyonlands National Park in the Maze District. It is always a gift to see such intact crust in these remote places
🌿This alien-brain thing is cryptobiotic soil crust, or biocrust. It's a critical part of dry places like deserts. The crusts resemble lichen, but are a variable mixed community of cynanobacteria, algae, lichen, bacteria, and/or fungi. See the network of filaments at the base? Those are how crusts--
May 19, 2026 at 8:24 PM
🌿This alien-brain thing is cryptobiotic soil crust, or biocrust. It's a critical part of dry places like deserts. The crusts resemble lichen, but are a variable mixed community of cynanobacteria, algae, lichen, bacteria, and/or fungi. See the network of filaments at the base? Those are how crusts--
No, YOU’RE a cryptobiotic soil crust or biocrust.
🌿This alien-brain thing is cryptobiotic soil crust, or biocrust. It's a critical part of dry places like deserts. The crusts resemble lichen, but are a variable mixed community of cynanobacteria, algae, lichen, bacteria, and/or fungi. See the network of filaments at the base? Those are how crusts--
May 19, 2026 at 8:45 PM
No, YOU’RE a cryptobiotic soil crust or biocrust.
"Much of Sonoran Desert is covered with a “living skin”: biocrust... it is made up of whole interwoven communities of cyanobacteria, mosses and lichens that hold dryland soil in place and enrich it with important nutrients like carbon and nitrogen"
news.asu.edu/20251210-sun...
news.asu.edu/20251210-sun...
December 24, 2025 at 5:51 AM
"Much of Sonoran Desert is covered with a “living skin”: biocrust... it is made up of whole interwoven communities of cyanobacteria, mosses and lichens that hold dryland soil in place and enrich it with important nutrients like carbon and nitrogen"
news.asu.edu/20251210-sun...
news.asu.edu/20251210-sun...
The poppies are coming up, last year’s bones are bleaching, and spring is here.
April 2, 2025 at 4:22 AM
The poppies are coming up, last year’s bones are bleaching, and spring is here.
“Now THAT’s a biocrust” - my wife
November 12, 2025 at 3:05 AM
“Now THAT’s a biocrust” - my wife
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
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
August 10, 2025 at 4:01 AM
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
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
Ruilin from our group gave an exciting talk at Biocrust 6 🎤🌿
Great to see our work represented in this international biocrust community!
Great to see our work represented in this international biocrust community!
September 24, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Ruilin from our group gave an exciting talk at Biocrust 6 🎤🌿
Great to see our work represented in this international biocrust community!
Great to see our work represented in this international biocrust community!
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
June 17, 2025 at 9:30 PM
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
Excited to fully lean into this new platform. Get ready for more pictures of biocrust (like this one below!) and conversations around land and dust. Looking forward to connecting with y'all
November 21, 2024 at 3:03 PM
Excited to fully lean into this new platform. Get ready for more pictures of biocrust (like this one below!) and conversations around land and dust. Looking forward to connecting with y'all
PhD position in #SoilScience - join my research group and work together with me on the project: ‘CINCA - Climate change Impacts on Nutrient and Carbon Allocation in soils of maritime Antarctica’ at @tuberlin.bsky.social #biocrust #POM #MAOM #Antarctica #SOC
stellenticket.tu-berlin.de/en/job-offer...
stellenticket.tu-berlin.de/en/job-offer...
November 28, 2025 at 1:42 PM
PhD position in #SoilScience - join my research group and work together with me on the project: ‘CINCA - Climate change Impacts on Nutrient and Carbon Allocation in soils of maritime Antarctica’ at @tuberlin.bsky.social #biocrust #POM #MAOM #Antarctica #SOC
stellenticket.tu-berlin.de/en/job-offer...
stellenticket.tu-berlin.de/en/job-offer...