-Abedi, M., Bartelheimer, M. and Poschlod, P., 2014. Effects of substrate type, moisture and its interactions on soil seed survival of three Rumex species. Journal of Plant and Soil, 374(1-2): 485-495.
-Abu-Hamdeh, N.H. and Reeder, R. C., 2000. Soil thermal conductivity effects of density, moisture, salt concentration, and organic matter. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 64(4): 1285-1290.
-Ahmadian, N., Abedi, M. and Sohrabi, M., 2018a. The Effect of Tortella tortuosa (Hedw.) Limpr Moss on Germination of Five Dominant Grass Species in Rangelands of Golestan National Park. Journal of Seed Research, 8(2): 21-30.
-Ahmadian, N., Abedi, M. and Sohrabi, M., 2018b. Effects of lichens on germination of Bromus tectorum L, Melica ciliata L, Stipa caucasica Schmalh, and Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski. Rangeland, 12(2): 223-231.
-Ahmadian, N., Abedi, M. and Sohrabi, M., 2018c. The Protective Effect of Lichen in Maintaining Moisture and Modulating the Temperature Fluctuations of Soil Susceptible to Wind Erosion. Quarterly Journal of Environmental Erosion Research, 3(31): 71-86 .
-Akhani, H., 1998. Plant Biodiversity of Golestan National Park. Iran, Stapfia, 53: 411p.
-Arzani, H. and Abedi, M., 2006. Investigation on the effects of management practices on rangeland health attributes and indicators changes. Iranian Journal of Range and Desert Research, 13(2): 145-161.
-Arzani, H. and Abedi, M., 2015. Rangeland Assessment: Vegetation measurement. University of Tehran. Press, 217p
-Arzani, H., Abedi, M., Shahriari, E. and Ghorbani, M., 2007. Investigation of soil surface indicators and rangeland functional attributes by grazing intensity and land cultivation (case study: Orazan Taleghan). Iranian Journal of Range and Desert Research, 14(1): 68-79.
-Bahalkeh, K. H., Abedi, M. and Dianati Tilaki, Gh. A., 2017a. Microclimate changes of Onobrychis cushion under the influence of fire in Golestan National Park grasslands. Journal of Ecohydrology, 3(4): 623-630.
-Bahalkeh, K.H., Abedi, M. and Dianati Tilaki, Gh. A.,2017b. The effect of seasons and exposures on microhabitat modifications of Onobrychis cornuta cushions. Quarterly Journal of Environmental Erosion Research, 4(24): 68-80 .
-Bahalkeh, K. H., Abedi, M. and Dianati Tilaki, Gh. A., 2018. Effect of Fire on Biotic Interaction of Onobrychis curnata in Mountain grasslands. Iranian Journal of Range and Desert Research, 25 (1): 140-151.
-Belnap, J., Surface disturbances: their role in accelerating desertification Environ. Monit. Assess., 37 (1) : 39-57
-Belnap, J., 2006. The potential roles of biological soil crusts in dryland hydrologic cycles. Hydrological Processes, 20(15): 3159-3178.
-Belnap, J., Hawkes, C. V. and Firestone, M. K., 2003. Boundaries in Miniature: two examples from soil. AIBS Bulletin, 53(8): 739-749.
-Belnap, J. and Lange, O. L., 2001. Biological soil crusts: structure, function, and management. Part of the Ecological Studies book series, volume 150: 3-30.
-Beymer, R. J. and Klopatek, J. M., 1991. Potential contribution of carbon by microphytic crusts in pinyon‐juniper woodlands. Journal of Arid Land Research and Management, 5(3): 187-198.
-Brotherson, J. D. and Rushforth, S.R., 1983. Influence of cryptogamic crusts on moisture relationships of soils in Navajo national monument, Arizona. Journal of The Great Basin Naturalist, 43(1): 73-78.
-Cantón, Y., Solé-Benet, A. and Domingo, F., 2004. Temporal and spatial patterns of soil moisture in semiarid badlands of SE spain. Journal of Hydrology, 285(1): 199-214.
-Chamizo, S., Cantón ,Y., Domingo, F. and Belnap, J., 2013. Evaporative losses from soils covered by physical and different types of biological soil crusts. Journal of Hydrological Processes, 27(3): 324-332.
-Chamizo, S., Cantón, Y., Miralles, I. and Domingo, F., 2012. Biological soil crust development affects physicochemical characteristics of soil surface in semiarid ecosystems. Journal of Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 49: 96-105.
-Danin, A. and Ganor, E., 1991. Trapping of airborne dust by mosses in the Negev Desert, Israel. Journal of Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 16(2): 153-162.
-Dobson, F. S., 2000. Lichens: An illustrated guide to the British and Irish species.–431 S. Richmond Publ., Slough.
-Eldridge, D. J., 2001. Biological soil crusts and water relations in Australian deserts. In: J. Belnap and O.L. Lange (Eds). Biological soil crusts: Structure, function, and management. Springer-Verlag Berlin Hildberg. 2nd edition. 315-325.
-Eldridge, D., Bowker, M., Maestre, F., Alonso, P., Mau, R., Papadopoulos, J. and Escudero, A., 2010. Interactive effects of three ecosystem engineers on infiltration in a semi-arid Mediterranean grassland. Journal of Ecosystems, 13(4): 499-510.
-Fischer, T., Veste, M., Wiehe, W. and Lange, P., 2010. Water repellency and pore clogging at early successional stages of microbiotic crusts on inland dunes, Brandenburg, NE Germany. Journal of Catena, 80(1): 47-52.
-Gaya, E., 2009. Taxonomical revision of the Caloplaca saxicola group (Teloschistaceae, lichen-forming Ascomycota) (Vol. 101). Cramer in der Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung.
-Gao, S., Ye, X., Chu, Y. and Dong, M., 2010. Effects of biological soil crusts on profile distribution of soil water, organic carbon and total nitrogen in Mu Us Sandland, China. Journal of Plant Ecology, 3(4): 279-284.
-Gebauer, R. L. and Ehleringer, J. R., 2000. Water and nitrogen uptake patterns following moisture pulses in a cold desert community. Ecology, 81(5): 1415-1424.
-George, D. B., Roundy, B. A., Clair, L. L., Johansen, J. R., Schaalje, G. B. and Webb, B. L., 2003. The effects of microbiotic soil crusts on soil water loss. Arid Land Research and Management, 17(2): 113–125.
-Gold, W. G. and Bliss, L. C., 1995. Water limitations and plant community development in a polar desert. Journal of Ecology, 76(5): 1558-1568.
-Hawkes, C. V., 2003. Microorganismos del Suelo, plantas en peligro de Extinción y la conservación del matorral de Florida. Journal of Revista Ecosistemas, 12(2): 1-6.
-Hierro, J. L., Branch, L. C., Villarreal, D. and Clark, K. L., 2000. Predictive equations for biomass and fuel characteristics of Argentine shrubs. Journal of Range management, 53(6): 617-621.
- Issa, O. M., Trichet, J., Défarge, C., Couté, A. and Valentin, C., 1999. Morphology and microstructure of microbiotic soil crusts on a tiger bush sequence (Niger, Sahel). Journal of Catena, 37(1): 175-196.
-Jafari, M., Tavili, A., Zehtabian, Gh. R., Heshmati, Gh. A. and Azarnivand, H., 2004. Biological Soil Crusts Influence on Some Soil Hydrologic Properties Case Study: QARA QIR Rangelands, North of AQ QALA. Journal of Desertre, 11(1): 43-53.
-Jankju, M., 2009. Interaction between Artemisiaaucheri and Bromus tectorum; case studyNasrabad rangelands, Yazd province, Iran. Journal of Biology, 22(3):381-391.
-Jankju, M., 2013. Role of nurse shrubs in restoration of an arid rangeland: effects of microclimate on grass establishment. Journal of Arid Environments, 89: 103-109.
-Krzewicka, B., 2012. A revision of Verrucaria sl (Verrucariaceae) in Poland. Journal of Polish Botanical Studies, 27(3): 143.
-Lichner, L., Hallett, P. D., Drongová, Z., Czachor, H., Kovacik, L., Mataix-Solera, J. and Homolák, M., 2013. Algae influence the hydrophysical parameters of a sandy soil. Journal of Catena, 108: 58-68.
-López-Cortés, A., Maya, Y. and García-Maldonado, J. Q., 2010. Diversidad filogenética de especies de microcoleus de costras biológicas de suelo de la península de Baja California, México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad, 81(1):1-7.
-Ludwig, J. A., Wilcox, B. P., Breshears, D. D., Tongway, D. J. and Imeson, A. C., 2005. Vegetation patches and runoff–erosion as interacting ecohydrological processes in semiarid landscapes. Journal of Ecology, 86(2): 288-297.
-Maestre, F. T., Bautista, S., Cortina, J. and Bellot, J., 2001. Potential for using facilitation by grasses to establish shrubs on a semiarid degraded stepp. Journal of Ecological Applications, 11(6):1641-1655.
-Mihoč, M. A. K., Giménez-Benavides, L., Pescador, D. S., Sánchez, A. M., Cavieres, L. A. and Escudero, A., 2016. Soil under nurse plants is always better than outside: a survey on soil amelioration by a complete guild of nurse plants across a long environmental gradient. Plant and Soil, 408(1-2): 31-41.
-Moro, M. J., Pugnaire, F. I., Haase, P. and Puigdefábregas, J., 1997a. Effect of the canopy of Retama sphaerocarpa on its understorey in a semiarid environment. Journal of Functional Ecology, 11(4): 425-431.
-Moro, M. J., Pugnaire, F. I., Haase , P. and Puigdefábregas, J., 1997b. Mechanisms of interaction between a leguminous shrub and its understorey in a semi‐arid environment. Journal of Ecography, 20(2): 175-184.
-Noy-Meir, I., 1973. Desert ecosystems: environment and producers. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 4(1): 25-51.
-Obermayer, W., 2002. Management of a lichen Herbarium. In Protocols in Lichenology (pp. 507-523). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
-Pérez, F. L., 1997. Microbiotic crusts in the high equatorial Andes, and their influence on paramo soils. Catena. 31(3): 173-198.
-Pugnaire, F. I., Armas, C. and Maestre, F. T., 2011. Positive plant interactions in the Iberian Southeast: mechanisms, environmental gradients, and ecosystem function. Journal of Arid Environment, 75(12): 1310-1320.
-Richards, J. H., and Caldwell, M. M., 1987. Hydraulic lift: substantial nocturnal water transport between soil layers by Artemisia tridentata roots. Oecologia, 73(4): 486-489.
-Rodríguez-Caballero, E., Cantón, Y., Chamizo, S., Afana, A. and Solé-Benet, A., 2012. Effects of biological soil crusts on surface roughness and implications for runoff and erosion. Geomorphology, 145: 81–89.
-Rossi, F., Potrafka, R. M., Pichel, F. G. and De Philippis, R., 2012. The role of the exopolysaccharides in enhancing hydraulic conductivity of biological soil crusts. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 46: 33-40.
-Ryan, B. D., Bungartz, F. and Nash III, T. H., 2002. Morphology and anatomy of the lichen thallus. Lichen flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. I. Lichens unlimited. Tempe AZ: Arizona State University, 8-23.
-Sadeghi Shahrakht, T., Jankju, M. and Mesdaghi, M., 2013. Effects of Shrub Canopy on the Microclimate and Soil Properties of Steppe Rangeland. Journal of Rangeland Science, 3(3): 213-222.
-Sher, Y., Zaady, E., Ronen, Z. and Nejidat, A., 2012. Nitrification activity and levels of inorganic nitrogen in soils of a semi-arid ecosystem following a drought-induced shrub death. European Journal of Soil Biology, 53: 86-93.
-Tongway, D. J. and Ludwig, J. A., 1990. Vegetation and soil patterning in semi‐arid mulga lands of eastern Australia. Journal of Austral Ecology, 15(1): 23-34.
-Verrecchia, E., Yair, A., Kidron, G. J. and Verrecchia, K., 1995. Physical properties of the psammophile cryptogamic crust and their consequences to the water regime of sandy soils, north-western Negev desert, Israel. Journal of Arid Environments, 29(4): 427–437.
-West, N .E., 1990. Structure and function of microphytic soil crusts in wildland ecosystems of arid to semi-arid regions. Journal of Advances in Ecological Research, 20: 179-223.
-Xiao, B., Zhao, Y. G. and Shao, M. A., 2010. Characteristics and numeric simulation of soil evaporation in biological soil crusts. Journal of Arid Environments, 74(1): 121-130.