Drylands encompass over 40% of terrestrial ecosystems and face significant anthropogenic degradation causing a loss of ecosystem integrity, services, and deterioration of social‐ecological systems. To combat this degradation, some dryland restoration efforts have focused on the use of biological soil crusts (biocrusts): complex communities of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes, and other organisms living in association with the top millimeters of soil. Biocrusts are common in many ecosystems and especially drylands. They perform a suite of ecosystem functions: stabilizing soil surfaces to prevent erosion, contributing carbon through photosynthesis, fixing nitrogen, and mediating the hydrological cycle in drylands. Biocrusts have emerged as a potential tool in restoration; developing methods to implement effective biocrust restoration has the potential to return many ecosystem functions and services. Although culture‐based approaches have allowed researchers to learn about the biology, physiology, and cultivation of biocrusts, transferring this knowledge to field implementation has been more challenging. A large amount of research has amassed to improve our understanding of biocrust restoration, leaving us at an opportune time to learn from one another and to join approaches for maximum efficacy. The articles in this special issue improve the state of our current knowledge in biocrust restoration, highlighting efforts to effectively restore biocrusts through a variety of different ecosystems, across scales and utilizing a variety of lab and field methods. This collective work provides a useful resource for the scientific community as well as land managers.

中文翻译：

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生态修复中的生物土壤结皮：新兴研究与展望

旱地覆盖了40％以上的陆地生态系统，面临着严重的人为退化，导致生态系统完整性，服务能力下降以及社会生态系统恶化。为了应对这种退化，一些干旱地区的恢复工作都集中在使用生物土壤结皮（生物结皮）：复杂的蓝细菌，藻类，地衣，苔藓植物和其他与表层土壤有联系的生物。生物结皮在许多生态系统，尤其是旱地中很常见。它们执行一系列的生态系统功能：稳定土壤表面以防止侵蚀，通过光合作用贡献碳，固定氮，并调节干旱地区的水文循环。生物结皮已成为一种潜在的修复工具。开发实施有效的生物结皮修复方法可能会恢复许多生态系统功能和服务。尽管基于文化的方法使研究人员能够了解生物学，生理学和生物结皮的培养方法，但是将这些知识应用于实地实施却更具挑战性。大量的研究已经积累起来，以增进我们对生物结皮修复的理解，使我们有机会相互学习，并联合使用各种方法以发挥最大功效。本期特刊中的文章改善了我们目前在生物结皮修复方面的知识水平，重点介绍了通过各种不同的生态系统，跨规模并利用各种实验室和现场方法有效地修复生物结皮的工作。