Biological soil crust (biocrust)
Definition
A community of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, fungi, and lichens that colonises bare soil surfaces and forms a thin coherent mat. Relevant to forensic botany because biocrusts colonise exposed soil and sometimes bone surfaces on or near surface remains.
Related terms
- Crustose lichen
- A lichen growth form in which the thallus grows flat against and into the substrate (bone, stone, wood) and cannot be removed...
- Epilithic / epixylous colonisation
- Growth of organisms on rock or stone surfaces (epilithic) or on dead wood (epixylous). In forensic contexts, colonisation of bone surfaces by...
- Lichenometry
- The use of lichen thallus diameter to estimate the minimum age of a surface. Based on the known or measured radial growth...
- Succession
- The predictable sequence of different insect species colonising remains as decomposition progresses. Early stages attract blow flies; later stages attract beetles, moths,...
- Thallus
- The body of a lichen, consisting of fungal hyphae housing algal or cyanobacterial cells. The thallus diameter or area is the measurement...
Explained in
- Plant Growth on Remains as PMI IndicatorA community of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, fungi, and lichens that colonises bare soil surfaces and forms a thin coherent mat. Relevant to forensic botany be...