The induction of biocrusts through inoculation-based techniques has gained increasing scientific attention in the last 2 decades due to its potential to address issues related to soil degradation and desertification. The technology has shown the most rapid advances in the use of biocrust organisms, particularly cyanobacteria and mosses, as inoculants and biocrust initiators. Cyanobacteria and mosses are poikilohydric organisms – i.e., desiccation-tolerant organisms capable of reactivating their metabolism upon rehydration – that can settle on bare soils in abiotically stressing habitats, provided that selected species are used and an appropriate and customized protocol is applied. The success of inoculation of cyanobacteria and mosses depends on the inoculant's physiology, but also on the ability of the practitioner to identify and control, with appropriate technical approaches in each case study, those environmental factors that most influence the inoculant settlement and its ability to develop biocrusts.This review illustrates the current knowledge and results of biocrust induction biotechnologies that use cyanobacteria or mosses as inoculants. At the same time, this review's purpose is to highlight the current technological gaps that hinder an efficient application of the technology in the field.

中文翻译：

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耐旱的蓝细菌和苔藓作为实现土地退化中立的生物技术手段

在过去的20年中，通过基于接种的技术诱导生物结皮已经获得了越来越多的科学关注，因为它有可能解决与土壤退化和荒漠化有关的问题。该技术在使用生物结壳生物（尤其是蓝细菌和苔藓）作为孕育剂和生物结壳引发剂方面显示出最快速的进展。蓝细菌和苔藓是微水生生物，即能在水合作用后重新激活其代谢的耐干燥生物，只要使用选定的物种并采用适当和定制的方案，它们便可以在非生物胁迫的生境中定居在裸露的土壤上。接种蓝藻和苔藓的成功与否取决于接种者的生理状况，还取决于从业者识别和控制，在每个案例研究中采用适当的技术方法，最能影响接种物沉降及其形成生物结皮的能力的环境因素。本综述说明了使用蓝细菌或苔藓作为接种物的生物结皮诱导生物技术的当前知识和结果。同时，本次审查的目的是强调阻碍技术在现场有效应用的当前技术差距。