Ferran Garcia-Pichel, professor in ASU's School of Life Sciences, collects soil crust samples as part of a five-year research project aimed at reestablishing soil surfaces.
Biological soil crusts — or communities of microorganisms that grow on the surface of the soil when there is no plant cover — are key in protecting the soil from erosion.
Once soil samples are collected, researchers will bring them to a "microbial nursery" where they will work to develop large-scale lab cultivations of microbes that keep the soil together.