A microbial nitrogen-fixing crust lives shaded beneath moss that towers over it

Evidence

With the leaves all folded up, the surface of the tailings is exposed. You have to look closely to see it. When you are down on your knees, the tailings are almost too hot to touch. The surface between the shriveled moss stems is speckled with blackish green. This is a microbial crust, a community even tinier than the mosses, which seem to tower above it. It’s made up of intertwined filaments of terrestrial algae, bacteria, and fungal hyphae, taking advantage of the shade provided by the mosses. The algae are nitrogen fixers, incrementally adding nutrients to the tailings. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 228

Categorization

• XREF: The nested scale — crust beneath moss that ‘seems to tower above it’ — is a vivid frame for the whole course’s attention-to-small-scales observational method. — connects to: Epiphytic organisms can smother and replace a pioneer lichen — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 1007
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source