Drylands Home | Human Health | Native Lands | Public Lands

Dust and Substrate Geochemistry - Links to Ecosystem Development

Soils and substrates in American drylands vary widely in the factors that influence plant growth and ecosystem development. Nutrients and hydrology are affected by the type of bedrock that is eroding into soils and by the deposition of eolian dust to soils. For ecosystems and land management this means that the effects of drought and land use may vary with the type of soil depending on its physical and biogeochemical properties. Our work on dust and substrate geochemistry includes analysis of spatial variation of the geochemistry of parent materials (photo 1 below) and analysis of the role of dust in nutrient delivery (photo 2 below) to soils. The biogeochemistry of dryland ecosystems is a fundamental control on ecosystem dynamics. By examining these processes, we improve our understanding and ability to forecast the response of these ecosystems to change.

Photo 1 Photo 2