Impacts
Mosses are small, but their effects can scale up. In drylands, mosses can help stabilize soil, shape biological soil crusts, influence dust, affect microbial communities, and contribute to ecosystem resilience.
In this world, we study how mosses matter beyond themselves. Some of this work focuses on environmental health and climate justice, including the possibility that healthy biocrust mosses reduce dust and influence exposure to dust-associated diseases such as Valley fever. This work connects moss biology with public health, policy, land management, and communities affected by ecological change.
Some of our questions include:
- How do mosses shape dryland ecosystems and biological soil crusts?
- How do mosses influence soil stability, dust, and disturbance recovery?
- What happens when moss-dominated soil crusts are damaged or lost?
- How might moss ecology connect to human health and environmental justice?
- How can public science and community collaboration improve environmental research?
This world connects ecology, environmental health, climate justice, public science, and the human dimensions of moss research.