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cryptobiotic

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus 0.09 sec.
cryptobiotic [¦krip·tō·bī′äd·ik]
(ecology)
Living in concealed or secluded situations.


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He adds that those areas are often covered by a delicate cryptobiotic crust that protects the desert from erosion, and for which a hole is anything but beneficial.
I've seen four-wheelers grind their way up desert rock formations near Moab, Utah, where century-old cryptobiotic crust, made up of soil lichens, green algae, bacteria, and mosses, is as easily damaged and difficult to restore as alpine tundra.
These rock particles, together with the moisture-retaining lichens, form a cryptobiotic mat, the first thin layer of soil that desert plants need to grow.
 
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